No memories, thanks
by Garfield53
Summary: Bunch of usaki drabbles/one-shots. Spoilers for the latests chapters of the manga. Like it? Say it. Don't like it? Please tell me why. Reviews always appreciated.
1. Damn cat

**Warning: this is meant to take place before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that Usui is still at Seika, and nobody has stalked him yet. Therefore, any kind of confession has yet to happen, too. **

"Meoooow!"

Misaki, startling, lifted her head above the tremendous pile of papers that was isolating her from the rest of the student council. Frowning, she asked:

"What was that noise? Is there a cat around here?"

As the other boys were clearly trying to avoid her stare, she began to fear that she had made this noise herself. In spite of the work that was piling up at an alarming speed at school, she had been dozing off for the past hour, exhausted. Exhausted because she had to prepare for an animal café event at Maid Latté. In whom she was standing as a cat. The air around the president grew heavier as she was thinking about the past few days. The only thing she had understood for sure in the other maid's passionate discussions was that she had to imitate the animal she was standing for. So, in order to be ready, she had taken the habit to stay with the staff a little longer to practise her acting. When she was at last falling asleep in her bed, she was dreaming of cats all night long. Even the dream she had just woken up from was cat-themed. Had she let out something compromising?

As the boys were almost fighting to determine who would get the task to bring a document to a teacher (and thus get the chance to flee out of the room), she fully released her demon aura. Every finger pointed in her direction at the same time:

"We didn't do anything, it's him, not us! Please spare our lives!"

Ah. Of course she had forgotten there was still a carefree alien now crashing in the student council room like he was at home. She turned at the lightning's speed to see Usui squatted down, playing with a cat. He looked up at her like nothing happened:

"Ah, have you already woken up from your nap, pres? Look at him, he's lively, isn't he?"

Misaki froze. Usui had brought various cat toys, and was currently making the animal chase after a fake mouse in Seika high's student council room. The student council members looked at her with even more frightened eyes as she was shaking harder and harder. If Yukimura's timing was right, the demon would now level up in ten seconds.

"RETREAT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Misaki jolted when someone shouted in the heavy silence of the room. She looked around, surprised to discover that the entire student council was in hiding behind the door, like she was some kind of bomb ready to burst out. Yukimura had told them that his countdown was cancelled due to the president snapping out of her highly focused state. Again, they feared for the worst when she turned one more time to Usui.

"Something up, pres? And your student council is acting strange too..."

At that time, most of said student council had already ran away. Usui, the hope of Seika high, wouldn't make it alive after putting up this kind of attitude with the president.

To their amazement, Takumi Usui was not the least harmed when they saw him walking to his class a few hours later like nothing happened. On the following day, the principal gossip was already about Usui being an alien who could resist to the demon president's hellish beatings ups without a scratch.

Said alien decided to go crashing on the student council as soon as classes were over. When he opened the door, Usui spotted Misaki, who had finished class an hour before him. She was sound asleep on her desk, her head buried in her arms. Usui smirked. Today, he would get the chance to wake her up his way.

He walked to her desk, bent down to her neck... And swiftly avoided an unexpected punch. Usui observed Misaki for a moment. She was still sleeping, but had somehow sensed his presence.

A soft thud made him turn his head to look at the same cat as the day before, that was watching him. The animal walked smoothly to Misaki's desk. Usui, silently observing, wondered how he could be masochistic enough to do so. After all, maybe it wasn't that smart. The cat stopped next to a corner of the table and silently jumped on top of it. It looked at the sleeping Misaki, closed it's eyes, then started purring while rubbing against her head. Usui, surprised, saw Misaki's hand raising slowly to stroke it's fur. The purr grew louder as the animal pushed the hand with it's head. The cat finally found a comfortable spot where he laid down: resting against Misaki's head, withing the action range of her hand. It slowly opened it's eyes to stare at Usui.

That would've sworn this damn cat was laughing his head out at him. It's eyes were sparkling, half-closed each time she was lightly caressing it's jaw. No, cats weren't stupid at all, in the end. Just as cunning as some humans.

On that day, Usui learned two things about himself: That he could be jealous of a mere cat, and that he was a really pitiful person. Because even the cat thought so, from it's ironical looks.


	2. On fire

**Warning: this is meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that nobody has come to stalk Usui yet.**

Usui and Misaki were both quite shocked. After all, they almost got killed in the process, so it was only natural for them to feel a little shaken by this turn of events.

Firemen were still looking carefully around, searching for the last remaining sparklings. Hopefully the entire building did not collapse, but it was a close call. The young man living alone here had been very lucky to have the latest generation of fire alarms, whispered the firemen.

The two policemen that had been interrogating the couple apparently responsible for this mess weren't that satisfied with the very unbelievable explanation they had gotten. The girl was blushing, looking away, nervous and very uneasy, while the boy seemed to be made of stone. He was talking quietly, perfectly relaxed in his sofa that miraculously had not caught fire. From time to time, he caught a quick glance full of guilt from the girl and answered with a reassuring smile. Didn't he care for his very own appartment? Really, youngsters nowadays seemed like they were from another planet. He was firmly declaring that he was fully responsible for everything that happened, but this couldn't be more unbelievable. Just by looking five seconds at his supposed girlfriend (well, it was saturday night and they were alone at his appartment, what else could it be?), the police official could guess she thought it was entirely her fault.

* * *

While the sun was rising on the city, the last official crossed the doorway, waving goodbye and recommending the two to be more careful from now on. Usui closed the door for the last time and returned to the couch. Misaki was still sitting, as stiff as a statue. She looked so ashamed that he couldn't refrain himself from giggling lightly. The laughter then went louder and louder. Misaki stared at him, completely lost. It made him laugh even more. When she looked like she was about to shrink in shame, he finally managed to calm himself down to repeat for the thousandth time of this long day that this was not her fault, so she didn't have to feel this guilty.

"But... I still put fire to your appartment..." She muttered, tense.

"And like I said, don't worry, it will be repaired quickly enough. Those expensive insurance policies finally got an opportunity to be useful, so I should be the one thanking you for getting me a brand new kitchen."

"I will definitely pay you back..." He cut immediatly cut her sentence:

"And I will not accept any money from you. First I don't need it, second it is all on the insurances and third you have better ways to spend your allowance."

She stared at him. He was totally serious. She finally gave up and gave a look around. He followed her gaze.

Indeed, there wasn't much spectacular damages besides the gas stove, from where the fire had started. The oven's door underneath had litterally melted, and the fire had reached the rest of the kitchen. Hopefully Usui had had a fire extinguisher, and knew how to use it.

Misaki sighed. Never again she would try to cook something, even if Usui begged her to do it.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of Usui hanging up. He walked to her, smiling again. This smile made Misaki uneasy one more time, altrough she was starting to feel tired from this sleepless night.

"Well, that was your mother on the phone. I was telling her that everything is allright."

Her eyes widened. She had completely forgotten about the time that had been flowing since the incident. She sighed again. It felt like everything was exhausting after this sleepless night. Usui's voice seemed to come from farther away than he really was. She could feel the smirk on his face when he spoke, but she didn't have any energy left to react:

"So, why don't you sleep here for a while? I would feel bad sending you in that state."

It indeed wasn't a bad idea. Misaki was now feeling too exhausted to think of anything else besides the warmth of the couch and the comfort it would bring her once she would allow herself to rest on it. It was sunday, so she could come home just a little later. A quick nap wouldn't hurt at all.

Usui walked softly to the couch and sat right next to her. Her head nodded several times before landing on his shoulder. He giggled softly again before laying his head on hers and following her into sleep.

Nevermind the mess. It was actually pretty nice to get his own appartment almost entirely burned down by that girl.


	3. Uneasiness

**Warning: To be read as happening right between chapter 50 and 51. Kind of AU now, due to the fact that it almost seems like some more time has passed before we get to 51/52 and the stuff happening during those chapters. You might want to be reminded of what exactly happens in 50 since some stuff quite doesn't make sense otherwise. Aside from that, nobody has been stalking Usui and the confession has yet to happen.**

The atmosphere was dense.

Once again, she had ended up at his appartment. Those times, she found herself going to visit him more and more. It was a cunning thing, because she often didn't remember how she got the idea, why she went or even when. All that idiot's fault again. She glanced at him. He was on the couch, only a few centimeters away from her, but his eyes were directed towards the wall before him, and he seemed to have gone far away from earth. Maybe to his own little pheromone planet.

Something was off. Definitely off.

She was dense and she knew it. People around her had been telling her that often enough since a long time, but not quite insensitive as to not notice the obvious: The air around him was so thick her stomach was riding a neverending roller coaster. It also reflected her own worries. She knew perfection didn't exist in this world, and that somehow good things could turn sour and bitter without much work. It was definitely too good to be true, and each day that passed made the possible end closer to the present. Since when did it become so important, by the way? She couldn't begin to think of an answer. She just knew that if something didn't turn out well, she was going to get badly hurt. And she feared this moment of vulnerability. Even Usui was human, and also _male _to begin with. That she could never forget.

She had to take the first step. How could such a single step forward become so complicated? How did all this become a mess in the first place?

"What do you want?" She blurted.

Misaki tensed up even more and stared hard at the couch on whom she was sitting. She risked a glance after a short while. Usui had emerged from his thoughts, and was looking at her, puzzled. Their eyes met for a second, then she speedily turned away. Again. And now she was blushing. Damn him. A dead silence persisted.

They were back to the starting point.

"Well, it was you who came in the first place, so I was expecting you to have something to say."

Or maybe not.

"Dont play dumb."

"I don't, for once." His voice seemed sincere.

"Yes you do. Altrough I don't understand what you're thinking, I can guess when something is wrong with you. And I want to hear you out." Usui's lips twitched upwards to a sad smirk for a split second. Misaki didn't like those "If-only-you-knew" looks he gave her. Of course she wouldn't know if he refused to tell her!

Usui's eyes glittered for an instant, at last, when he saw her reaction. He didn't know why, but he always was more playful when she was around. Teasing her had become a natural reaction to her presence, and it would sweep away most, if not all, of his brain. The mental picture of a hurricane invaded his thoughts. It indeed matched the dark-haired girl quite well.

Altrough he said he had plans on the day of Iragahi Tora's party, he somehow ended up sneaking in unnoticed. Funny how overthinking things could bring you to walk around until you reach the cause of your worry. He knew something was up, and so searched in every dark corner and private rooms until he got the right one. Usui didn't even know anymore if he would have prefered getting lost and not finding her soon enough to hear what she said. And what _he_ said. Because he himself would rather die than say the same things as Iragashi had told her. Why did this man have to voice out Usui's own feelings?

Unfair.

Then Misaki had started demonstrating by A plus B that wealthy and poor people had nothing in common, hence nothing to do with each other, and that nothing could be done about it. A shame that he had indeed thought that time could make some things possible.

Apparently not.

She didn't even put him on the line as a good reason for not accepting Iragashi.

Usui knew he was overthinking, but he couldn't help it. What he had heard that day lingered in his head like a broken record, repeating over and over again. Misaki had come to his appartment, it occured not as often as he would have liked it to, yet he was mourning about those things.

He felt something warm pressing against his arm. The course of Usui's thoughts froze. He looked down and blinked a few times, not believing his own senses at all. Misaki had turned her back to him, but she was now leaning onto his shoulder. She was blushing madly but didn't seem to want to pull back yet. He wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer and kissed her hair slowly, blushing in his temporary -but more than welcome- bliss. She didn't know how, but she knew he was grinning slightly. She hid her face in the crook of his neck, feeling like her whole body was on fire.

Her breath tickled his collarbone.

Both stayed still, afraid to end this moment.

That was their way of getting rid of this uneasiness lurking in.


	4. Send me an angel

**Warning: this is meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that nobody has come to stalk Usui, and the confession has yet to happen.**

She had to do it.

Misaki was standing in front of the shelves, on whom the box wrapped in plastic seeemed to mock her. She could have sworn the price sticker, with it's unecessary high value printed black on white, was innerly smirking at her, making fun of her stinginess.

Coming to think of it, this smile reminded her of somebody, who was the main cause of her coming into this store at this hour. Flustered, she glanced to her right then to her left, before snatching the product she was aiming at. Once her decision had been made, there was no stopping it. One of the security agents whispered into his colleague's ear. He had seen plenty of robbers of all kinds, and this girl's attitude was definitely odd. Misaki headed towards the checkouts in front of the exit, and wondered why the cashier was also staring at her suspiciously. She wasn't doing something illegal, was she? She paid, put what she had purchased in one of the supermarket's plastic bags, then hurried towards the automatic doors, still feeling several pairs of eyes following her every movement.

The fresh breeze outside cooled her down a little. She took a look around, sighed, and began walking towards the alien's appartment. Said alien had phoned her early this morning. He had as usual started blaberring about perverted things, but his voice was unusualy low. She had had to hang up no less than five times before he accepted to tell her the real purpose of his call: He was not feeling well, so he wanted her to tell his teacher he would be on sick leave for one to three days. Misaki had almost woken up her mother and sister by yelling back that if he was able to phone her, he might as well give a call to the school to tell them instead. After a short rant on how everyone seemed to think of her as a disposable being, paid by the school to do the chores, she noticed Usui wasn't answering. She called his name until he started pouting "But I wanted to hear _your_ voice...". She had hung up instinctively and had found out she was already late, so she hurriedly got prepared and left. Misaki had decided during the day to stop by his appartment after work. She had just been a little worried when she heard his worn out voice through the phone, and that was it. Nothing more, really.

So why was she hesitating, now that she had come all this way to his door? There was no reason to. The black-haired girl pressed the doorbell and waited. Nothing could be heard from the inside. She tried again until she heard heavy footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. It opened to reveal a dazed and messily dressed Usui, that frowned at her before leaning towards her face. She tensed up, her cheeks bright red. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he seemed surprised, like he just recognized her. He came even closer:

"Come in." He whispered into her ear, his voice even lower than usual. His abnormally hot breath made her jolt, and he chuckled softly at her reaction. She stared at him. Given the countless times when he had done this to her before, she knew what it should have felt like: she was sure he had fever for real. The perverted alien went back in and aimed directly for the couch, on whom he fell before reaching for a blanket that had been thrown on the floor.

Misaki followed him, putting the plastic bag in a corner. Ill or not, he was conscious enough to think about leaving room for her on the couch.

"How do you feel?"

"Say, were you worried about me? You were, right?"

She decided she didn't like his smirk at all. She had the strong impression that he would abuse of his condition in every way he could. Why did she want to come, already? Oh, that was right, because she was worried about this alien. She should have known that this outerspace pervert wouldn't even be sick like normal people do. How stupid of her. Misaki shook her head, sighing and giving a look around the familiar appartment. Now that she was there, might as well continue until the end.

"Do you need something? Wait, I'll go fetch some water first."

She jumped on her feet, heading towards the kitchen. He heard her digging in the cupboards, even taking a look in the fridge. Her angered voice rose from afar:

"How come you never have anything to eat in your own kitchen? Don't perverted aliens feed themselves sometimes?"

The sound of water filling up a container, then the pres coming back with a carafe in one hand and a glass in the other. He smiled at her, and everything went dark for a moment.

Misaki, puzzled, saw Usui focus his eyes on her, then faint. She hurried to him, almost throwing what she was holding on the coffee table, calling his name.

Feeling someone close to him, he shot his eyes open and blinked to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The pres's face was just where he wanted it to be: close to him to the point where he wondered if it was possible to be even closer.

She stared at him, worried. She could feel his fever.

He opened his mouth...

And started humming something.

**"I sit and wait  
Does an angel contemplate my fate?  
Hear this voice from deep inside  
It's the call of your heart  
Seek the roses along the way  
Just beware of the thorns"**

Dumbstruck, Misaki looked at him with wide eyes. He chuckled, utterly amused. She blushed like crazy, atempted to hit him, but remembered at the last moment that he was kind of out of his mind. She only grabbed his collar instead:

"Hey, pervert! Are you really sick or plain dumb? What does that mean?"

It made him laugh openly. The black-haired girl frowned and smacked him on the head.

"So, why don't you help me wash myself this time too, Misa-chan? I'm feeling hot, it would cool me down. Plus if I keep my clothes on you can come with me, right?"

"Well, I could help you get to the bathroom if you'd like to..."

He cut her, pouting:

"No, that won't do. I'm only taking a shower if you take one with me." Usui's smirk was broad and without a trace of shame.

"Do you want to die that bad?" Misaki hissed. However, her anger dissapeared when she noticed he just kept giggling like an idiot.

She sighed, rose up and headed towards the kitchen:

"Wait a minute, I'll fix dinner. You really seem to be out of it, and it will help you to get back to your senses."

"Hey, Misa-chan, you really want me to go say hello to the angels up there, don't you? Aren't you jealous? But heaven would be hell without you, so you should come with me. You'll tag along, say? You have to, just to make sure I won't do anything perverted to the girls, right?"

"You are mad, Usui." He continued like he hadn't heard her sight:

"But after all, I don't have any reason to go now that I have an angel here, right? I'm already in paradise, so please don't kill me with your home-made cooking! I don't want to die now! I mean it..." his voice trailed off and he sang again:

**"Here I am  
Will you send me an angel?  
So when I'm lying in my bed  
Thoughts running trough my head  
and I feel that love is dead  
I'm loving angels instead"**

She was coming back with chopsticks and a bento box when he whispered the last sentence, so he gazed straight at her, making her startle and look away. There were too much emotions stirring inside a single pair of eyes for her. The dreamy smile that was on his lips slightly faded, and Usui kept quiet for a while, also looking the other way. She sat up right next to him, sighed, then placed the box on her knees and handed over the chopsticks.

"Here you go. I don't even see why you're complaining since I brought this. It should be more edible than my cooking."

He glanced at her. She hated the light of mishief she could see in his eyes.

"I'm okay with it, but only if you eat with me. And if you feed me too."

"Do you also want a good punch to get your ideas back in place?" She instantly replied.

However, even after a heated argument, he stayed on his postions: This dinner would be eaten either by both or none of them. He even suceeded in placing that he would have prefered something Misa-chan made herself rather than this, which earned him a punch. Silence fell once they started eating, taking turns with the chopsticks. Misaki ended up unconsciously feeding an ill Usui that was appreciating more and more his status of sick person. Eventually, and too soon to his tastes, she rose up again to go wash the few things they had used. He hummed while dazing off to the ceiling:

**"And through it all she offers me protection  
A lot of love and affection  
Whether I'm right or wrong  
When I come to call, she won't forsake me  
I'm loving angels instead" **His voice went down, and all Misaki heard was his heavy and irregular breathing. Then unsteady footsteps told her he was heading towards her.

"Do you need something?" She was scrubbing the chopsticks when he threw his arms around her shoulders and buried his burning hot face in her neck. He whispered in her ear:

**"When I'm feeling weak  
And my pain walks down a one way street  
I look above  
And I know I'll always be blessed with love  
And as the feeling grows  
She breathes flesh to my bones  
Here I am  
When you send me an angel"**

It took her approximatively this long to snap out of it and push Usui away:

"Eh, are you really sick or just plain drunk? What did you do to end up in that state?"

"I don't know at what I've been doing at all", he answered playfully, "but I know a better way to get drunk than the method with alcohol. Plus there aren't any side effects."

She stared at him suspiciously. He just smiled and clutched his arms around her:

"And I earn myself a one-way ticket to the heavens too." he whispered right against her lips before kissing her softly.

His mind litterally flew to heaven.

* * *

When he woke up, he was alone and the daylight that entered through the windows was blinding him. Still dizzy, he wondered if the pres's visit was a dream. From what he remembered, it seemed too good to be true. He then noticed a paper left on the coffee table, pinned to it by a glass full of water. He smiled and read it:

_Usui,_

_You passed out, so I put you on the couch. If you're not at school in two days, I'll drag you down to the hospital if I need to, but you'll get treated no matter what you want. I searched your appartment for some meds and didn't find a single one. Seems you're no better than me when it comes to getting treated._

_I may come again tonight._

_You'd better not get sick too often._

_P.S.: You should worry in priority about your brain rather than your body, by the way. _

Usui put the paper down and laid on the couch once again. Dragging the blanket to him, he noticed it smelled slightly like her. He knew he had dragged Misaki down on the couch in the middle of the night, throwing her over him and wrapping her in his blanket to stop her struggle. He wanted the pres to take some rest and he knew she would most probably work all night on the hundred of things she had to do. His own heart had skipped a few beats when he had realized that she had clenched her arms around his neck in her sleep.A few hours later, noticing she had escaped, he had tried to get Misaki to dance with him, pulling her in an erratic waltz all through his appartment. It was the fault of this stupid song stuck in his head, that made him hum "**Fly with me, come fly with me...**". But when had this song become a waltz, by the way? Usui didn't know.

He then recalled her glancing at him with regret one last time before closing the door. The morning sun was already lurking through, showing the dark circles under her eyes and her exhausted features. Altrough a part of Usui was already worried about her state, he couldn't control the happiness he felt, seeming ready to burst out. He pulled the blanket close, so close that it seemed like she was surrounding him.

He couldn't wait for the night to come.

**Author's note: Three songs were savagely distorted and mixed by Usui in this fic: Robbie Williams's "angels", Scorpions's "Send me an angel" and Frank Sinatra's "Fly with me".**


	5. Afterwords 1 to 4

**Warning: Those are meant to be short sequels to the four previous stories, answering the question "What happened afterwards?"**

DAMN CAT

During the few days following the "cat incident" (that was how the student council refered to the moment when they almost saw hell's gates open because of their fellow classmate Usui), a certain perverted alien tried to put on cat ears and act more like a cat. As the president's aura became darker and she kept asking him what was this new hobby of him, he defused the bomb ready to blow up by shaking Misaki with his random question:

"But, president, don't you like cats?"

"What is this all about? I don't mind them as long as they stay outside the school grounds, as it is said in the damn SCHOOL REGULATIONS WHOSE EXISTENCE SHOULD BE KNOW TO ANYONE STEPPING A FOOT IN SEIKA HIGH!" Her yell made every living creature that could hear it, minus perverted aliens, shrink and take shelter as best as they could.

The following day, Usui's cat ears were gone and he had an annoyed look on his face.

* * *

ON FIRE

Misaki woke up suddenly and stormed across the room to get her things because she slept more than what she had planned. She left hurriedly, letting a groogy Usui realize that his arm had went numb and he was alone.

When a black-haired hurricane came back to the Ayuzawa's house, Minako joyfully told her panting daughter that the result of her attempt at cooking was mentionned in the morning's papers.

* * *

UNEASINESS

Somebody's cell phone soon dragged back to reality the two oblivious people on the couch. That night, Misaki suceeded in hating and loving her mother at the exact same time. One question lingered in the president's mind: when would she have snapped out of it if her mother hadn't called to ask her to buy something on her way home?

Usui's feelings hadn't been that torn: he had hated her cell phone with all his might, period. He unconsciously copied the pres's demon aura and oriented it towards the poor electronic device. To his surprise, it switched off immediatly.

* * *

SEND ME AN ANGEL

Two days after our story took place, Usui returned to school like nothing happened, his memories concerning the time when he was sick more than blur. Hence why he had quite some trouble figuring out why the pres was giving him the cold shoulder for a while.

By the end of the same week, Misaki was unable to walk in a straight line, burning with fever. She still went to school, however a perverted alien who felt slightly guilty (but not knowing exactly why) forced her to take a day off work on the saturday. He insisted on helping out in any way he could a president that was rather acting like a drunkard than a sick person, singing the only song she knew non-stop.

By the middle of the following week, Usui showed the first signs of being sick again, and his dear Misa-chan dumped him at the hospital as soon as she noticed his weird behavior. The perverted alien whined each time she went because she was wearing a mask that stopped him from kissing her. In order to put and end to his complaints, she had to swear she would be the person coming to fetch him when he would get discharged.

As always, she kept her promise.


	6. Tears for fears

**Warning: this is meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that nobody has come to stalk Usui yet, and that the confession hasn't happened either.**

The clients were chatting peacefully in the café, and the slight clatter of the tableware was melting with the sharp but calm voices of the Maid Latté staff. Misaki closed the back door, and smelled the delicious aroma of the kitchen lurking through the entire building. The manager once told her that she purposely let it spread even outside of the store in order to bait the potential customers passing by the street. The black-haired girl went to greet Madam Satsuki, that started her hyperactive chatting, as usual. This time, she was so exited she followed Misaki all the way to the locker rooms, blaberring about the European café event she wanted to organize by the end of the year (hence why she had asked the entire staff to call her Madam). The black-haired maid, embarassed, was still searching for an opening in order to escape from the manager's endless speech when Honoka called out angrily:

"We could use some help here! The rush hour's just around the corner!"

Relieved, Misaki hurried towards the front room, waving to the staff and picking up a tray. When she saw a single familiar back at the kitchen, she startled and blushed slightly before fleeding in the direction of a random customer. It had been a long time since he last went here. The blonde male turned away from the stove, dividing the content of the frying pan he was holding between the three empty plates awaiting on the counter. Usui's lips twitched upwards when he spotted a well-known back swimming in the middle of the sea of customers. He reached for a chopping board and a knife, put them in front of him and started cutting slowly some spare vegetables, waiting for the next order. Here, he was the only one able to find time to waste in the middle of the rush hour while being alone at the kitchen.

* * *

Misaki had stopped at every table, but now she was forced to come back and at least clean her tray, full of empty containers. She didn't know at all what had gotten into her when she avoided the perverted alien at the beggining of her shift, but it was gone now. The black-haired girl lifted her head, came confidently in the kitchen, carefully put her heavy tray on the counter to clean it... And froze at the sight of Usui Takumi crying.

He was slightly bent over something put on the part of the kitchen hidden by the counter, that was higher. He continued working, oblivious of the droplets fleeding from his eyes, streaming down his face. Misaki wanted to move, to do something, but her body wouldn't obey her commands. The one thing she couldn't deal with were tears, because she never knew what to do at all. She just felt awfully useless and horrible to not be able to stop this sadness overflowing by the eyes. Was it her fault?

Usui lifted his head and smiled at her like he always did:

"Hey, pres', long time no see."

His voice broke the spell she was under. She rushed to bypass the counter in order to get in the kitchen, while Usui was abandoning his work to glance at her, intrigued.

"What happened?" she yelled, grabbing the alien's shirt and looking straight into his eyes. He gave her a surprised look, that turned to slight panic when he saw her worried features. He really didn't get why she was so flustered. Misaki froze again when she finally noticed the smell in the air, that brought tears to her own eyes. The doubt that still lingered in her head cleared up when she took a look at what Usui had been manipulating until now.

A half-cut onion was lying on a chopping board and a kitchen knife had been thrown nearby.

**Author's note: The Tears for fears are a music band.**


	7. Sweetheart

**Warning: this is meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that nobody has come to stalk Usui yet, and that the confession didn't happen.**

A blond young man was roaming across the kitchen, not satisfied at all with the current situation. He was trying out some new recipes for the "sweetheart", the special valentine's day dessert he had been asked to create. The manager, as usual, had begged him to help her, because she knew he would give her something that could compete with a four stars restaurant's cooking, while not asking for more than a student's ordinary wages.

But this time, something was not working. Usui stared, puzzled, at his different attempts, that were now lined up all the way through the long counter that set the limits of the kitchen. They were edible, and would have tasted good enough for the average customer, but he was expecting better from his abilities. The part-timer was certain his manager would approve any of them, but he was still bugged by the unusual low level of his work. He frowned, starting a staring contest with the parfait in front of him, the most rebelious of the pack. He heard the curtains rustle, and lost the game by giving an interrogative glance to the black-haired maid that was coming back from the front room. She slightly shook her head to indicate she didn't have any new order for him. It was to be expected, since the shop would be closing soon. The part-timer sighed and stepped out of the kitchen, trying to change his point of view on the sweetheart issue, but ending up concentrating on somebody else instead. Maybe he would try out the pres's way of taking care of things, he thought as an excuse. If he could ever get part of his brain back, that is.

She was taking a look around, visibly surprised by the collection of desserts littering every flat space available. When her eyes came back to Usui, Misaki noticed he was focusing all his attention on one of the delicious-looking plates, a dark aura quite similar to her own starting to come out from his body. Shaking her head, she gave up on understanding what was going on between the alien and the food he had prepared. It had been a long day, and she needed to go on with it if she wanted to rest before starting the next one.

"The manager wanted me to leave now, they will finish everyting on their own. See you, Usui."

He again lost his staring contest with another plate. Really, once she was here his eyes were always drifting unconsciously in her direction, even if he needed to think of something else. Usui observed her as she put down the last glasses of the day in the dishwasher and cleaned her tray before putting it on a pile. She then looked for the bag she was always leaving somewhere near the kitchen. Inside, he knew she left enough work to keep her busy during her breaks. Misaki eventually lifted her head to stare back straight into the alien's eyes for a second. Annoyed, she turned away to hide her blush and growled at him:

"When will you stop looking at me like this..." She tensed up, feeling him coming closer... and abruptly turned her head to face him. She couldn't stand this tense, silent atmosphere, but she couldn't let words come out of her mouth neither look at him in the eyes. All of a sudden, the wall was becoming very interesting to look at. Usui approached his face slowly before putting his lips on hers. She stopped moving for a moment, along with her heart that stopped beating. Then started to kiss back. Misaki's hand, clenched in a fist, went up... To grab his shirt's collar, pulling him closer. The only thing that existed was a pair of hot lips smirking against hers. The voices of the manager and the other maids, squealing in delight in the middle of their chat, reached her frozen brain. They were cleaning, and soon enough would head for the kitchen. A rush of blood coming to her head, she pushed Usui away with the same hand that had clung to him seconds ago:

"What are you doing, pervert?" Her future rant was stopped by his puzzled, distant expression, like he just remembered something important he had forgotten to take into account. She couldn't help but notice he had slightly blushed, too. That made her blush even more if possible.

"Hey, Usui? What is it?" He seemed to snap out of his thoughts when he heard her voice, as he then looked at her with a slight, tender smile to answer her:

"Nothing, Misa-chan, nothing." She startled, redder than a tomato, and grabbed hastily the bag she had dropped (but didn't remember when), muttering some curse adressed to perverted outerspace aliens that dare to call her Misa-chan. He heard her grumble all the way to the lockers, until she slammed the back door shut a few minutes later.

Usui returned to his experiments sighing. Today he couldn't stalk her home, unless he found a fitting concept fast enough. He put away in the fridge a few of the most successful of his attempts for the entire staff to try out when they would have the opportunity, then returned to the pile of empty containers waiting in a corner. He was grinning like an idiot, but even more at loss than before.

How could he reproduce the taste of her lips on his, that was the sweetest thing he had ever known?


	8. Lollipop

**Warning: Having read chapter 51 of the manga could change your point of view about this story. This is also meant to happen before chapter 52, and after 39. You just have to know that nobody has started to stalk Usui yet, that he's still at Seika, and that the confession hasn't happened either.**

It was one of those days that the males of Seika High agreed on calling hellish. Read: one of those days during whom the student council's demon president is in a bad mood. The living and walking bomb was exploding for the slightiest little things, and didn't seem to be runing out of energy yet.

Said bomb fell on her chair. She was drained, worn out, but still not calmed. Her whole body was always on edge, ready to answer, too tensed up to cool down. Misaki sighed heavily and buried her head into her crossed arms. The exhaustion couldn't get to her yet, but she knew better: once her current boost would end, she would not even have enough energy left to lift a finger. Perhaps she would wake up ready to take over the world a few days after, but right now the president was still far from being ready to take over anything besides her chair and desk. They were all she needed to take a nap. No, even a corner of a classroom seemed decent enough to give it a try right here and now.

Misaki banged her head on the nearest thing she found, happening to be her own desk. She couldn't calm herself down yet. A thousand things were left undone, and she had to do them as fast as possible when she was still able to, plus it was out of the question to sleep in class.

The president felt something falling on her knees. Lifting herself up slowly, she glared at the lollipop that had fallen from her desk's shelf.

There were only two people in this school that repeatedly brought snacks, altrough she had mercilessy chased down all the students that dared to eat anything outside of the break times. One of them would not hand over his food easily, and she knew that if he had ever taken proper care of something, it was indeed of all the things he was planning to swallow.

Taking the lollipop in her hand, she made it roll on her palm. It's scent lurked through the wrapper.

Misaki blushed seven shades of red.

She had tasted it before, without a doubt. She remembered perfectly this windy day, when she had went to the rooftop, not long after the last student council president elections. There she had found a perverted outerspace alien sucking on his lollipop. He had given it to her, wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in her neck. She hadn't wanted anyone to notice she was eating a lollipop, but hadn't wanted to throw it either. How could she forget she had had to stay on the roof for a while because of it? A least that was the reason she had given to herself for staying in his arms for so long.

Now the demon president knew who would be her wrath's next target. At least, that was the excuse she had given herself to go see a perverted alien in that state. He would tease her endlessy, making her waste her precious time, but she had to give him a good lecture right now. Feeling slightly guilty when she realized she had chosen him to be her punching ball, she shrugged it off by preparing her rant carefully. It was not that she needed to vent on him, it was that he deserved a proper punishment.

In the end, there was no reason to be afraid, since the president was delayed non-stop all trough the day. Emergencies seemed to pop up at the worst time ever, and Misaki finished her school day alone in the student council room, buried under her own work. Sensing her killing intent, all the other members had wisely decided to call it a day and wait to take their things, even if it meant getting punished later. They hoped the demon would have calmed down by then.

On the contrary, a certain alien chose to crash in the student council, as usual. The president's eyes blazed under the ton of papers, and she jumped from her hiding to throw something at the pervert's face. He caught the UFO and smirked when he realized it was the lollipop he had left her.

"How many time must I repeat that bringing and eating snacks at school is forbidden! Do I eat while working?" She growled, too worn out to yell.

"Want some? That's why I gave it to you in the first place, so that you could eat too." Misaki twitched in annoyance.

"That's not the damn point!" She sighed, glaring at him, before returning to her work

"Yes, I know, I am hopeless." That earned him a surprised glance from the pres. Was he reading her brainwaves again? "But you should just eat it, it makes people sweeter. Your temper would improve, you know. You'd become just like me!" Misaki was turning and tossing all the papers away, searching for one she absolutely needed to sort away from the others. She stopped upon hearing him and looked up:

"Yeah, but you're too sweet." She returned to her erratic search for the damn paper, glancing at the alien in between. Usui smirked playfully.

"Only with you." She fled, blushing like crazy, pretexting to go look for the missing thing. That looked like the one Usui was holding, by the way. Wait, what? Misaki turned to observe it. Indeed, it was the one she had been searching for this whole time. The alien was still grinning at her.

She snapped.

* * *

The student council members had bravely returned to take ther things, but still couldn't open the door. When they had eavesdroped to make sure the way was clear, they had distinctively heard muffled sounds, altrough all they could see through the door was an empty room. They had already guessed the president would be scolding Usui Takumi, the only living being brave enough to confront the demon president in a bad mood. But to the point of beating him up! They pictured the poor ray of hope of Seika High being tortured by the demon so awfully he let out those sounds of supressed pain.

After a long moment that seemed like ages, the president opened the door. The student council members stared at her, shocked, repressing their horror screams.

She had a lollipop in her mouth, and Usui takumi stood unharmed just behind her.

They all burst out from happiness, congratulating him on his glorious victory against the evil forces of chaos. He had convinced the president to review her strict policy concerning the food at school.

The president's cheeks became bright red. This time she had totally forgotten the lollipop. Worst thing was that she clearly remembered Usui unwrapping it before putting it in his mouth, but didn't even recall how it ended up in hers. Well, she did have an idea, but... now she was sure, she couldn't get redder. However, her uneasy attitude only earned her a few surprised glances from some of the guys. Of course she would be embarassed to have lost to Usui Takumi. Said Usui was definitey the man of the day, but he didn't look the least impressed by the deep respect in the eyes staring at him in amazement.

Only one guy in the pack was starting to feel really uneasy. Kanou had tagged along with Yukimura, and he realized he was the only one noticing some things were definitely off.

He observed Usui Takumi return goofily to his usual spot, on the president's desk (no matter what she said or did, he was clinging to this place like an animal that has found the best spot for it's nest and won't trade it for a mountain of gold). He threw a lollipop wrapper in the trash bin, that was on the way. Only a wrapper, and no stick. Kanou startled and glanced at the president again, then went back to her watchdog. That smirked when he noticed his stare.

The silent observer twitched when Usui Takumi approached him, but he just stood here the time to whisper so low only the concerned could catch:

"No matter what you imagine, it's not enough to describe what happened." His smirk was terrifying. "And if you tell anyone about it, I'll do the same thing, the exact same thing to you. You're warned." He left a dumbstruck, frightened, frozen Kanou to go tease his favorite student council member, his dear little president. His tie looked crumpled, just like somebody had tightly grabbed and pulled it.

From this day on, Kanou began being afraid of Usui, too.


	9. Trust in you

**Warning: this is meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that nobody has started to stalk Usui yet, and that the confession has yet to happen.**

"Could you all just calm down, I need to explain a few things before we start doing this..." The teacher was trying, but not very hard, to get all the second years's attention. It was hot in the gymnasium, and every Seika High student just wanted to lie down on the floor and have either a chat or a nap. Every? No, one and only was still fighting the laziness in the air:

"You damn bunch of good-for-nothing boys! Shut up and listen!" The demon president's aura scared the boys (minus a perverted outerspace alien lying down against the wooden wall, but it was a hopeless case), and the noises of the conversations fell to a decent level.

"As I was saying before, we are near the end of the year, so I thought it might be great if we did something more fun." Another teacher, that until now had been busy monopolizing the fan, cut the other short:

"Anyway, you won't listen to us, so it's a pain to have to keep you busy right now. We don't want to get into trouble, so we will perform an activity, but it'll be something not too demanding, to relax and cool down a little, so no skipping. Understood?" The previous teacher, rolling his eyes, continued on like nothing happened:

"It is a trust game, to reinforce bonds between students. You will have to pair up and..." The chatting voices grew louder as the boys were fighting to determine who would be with whom. Given the number of girls available, the competition was quite harsh. They were also struggling to avoid being paired with the demon president.

"Shut up and listen until the end, damnit! We will give you some time later to choose who you are going to be with! So annoying..." Surprisingly enough, the teacher that seemed to be stuck to the fan had risen from his spot to stand next to his calmer colleague. He continued:

"As it is about trust, it is more interesting to do it with people you are not really close with, but you may want to start with your friends. One of you will have to purposedly fall in the other's arms. Of course, you will have to fall on your back without looking, so you won't know if the other will catch you until he does... Or doesn't." The teacher smiled evily to the crowd. "Yes, it happens. I remember my girlfriend forgot to catch me, to make me understand she wanted to break up..." The students returned to their conversations and the first teacher pushed the other away to try to silence him, before finishing:

"If you lack confidence you may need some matresses, we can go fetch them but usually there is no need. You can start and pair up, then when you're finished, change partners. Now, go, go, go!" He turned his back on the students and began fighting with his colleague for the best spot of the gymn, right in front of the fan.

Misaki seemed to be made of darkness as she quickly gathered the girls around her, to make sure they would not be forced to pair up with a filthy boy that would take advantage of the situation.

* * *

In the corners far away from the girls pack, some boys were observing the phenomenon.

"The president is such a chick magnet, look at this! She even beats Usui Takumi at it!"

"Of course, this is president we are talking about!" Yukimura had intruded the conversation, his teary eyes full of unwavering admiration for the demon. The group startled. They didn't see him coming at all. Kanou was following him like his shadow, as usual.

"Speaking of the devil, aren't those two often together?" Indeed, Usui had sat not very far from the pack of girls surrounding Misaki. Altrough one or two squeals were visibly adressed to him, most of the girls seemed to stick to the president rather than him.

"If this continues on, they're going to get all the girls. Damnit, there aren't that many to begin with, but with those two teaming up we can just give up on getting a chick at Seika."

"Don't you think that, by pairing up, the president and Usui will eventually get together rather than attract all the girls?" Every boy that had overheard what he was saying stared quizzically at Kanou, that blushed under the sudden display of attention. It was not that often he opened up, but when he did it was always to blurt out strange things like this. After an awkward pause, they laughed off the thought of those two together, vexing Yukimura in the process. He fled to join the crowd of fangirls around his dear president, still muttering something about the golden combination that is always right. The boys couldn't help but make fun at how he fitted so well in this small lake of girls, to the point of them welcoming him like any other member of their pack.

"But still, he _can_ get close to the girls, opposite of us." The boys's shoulders suddenly lowered, and they quickly changed topics.

While they were chatting, Misaki had carefully made sure every girl would be paired up with another one. She then realized she had to find herself a male partner since she was the only girl left. However, the guys, seeing the color of her menacing aura, hurried to find somebody else, already pitying the poor soul that would be left alone with her. Then a miracle happened: somebody sacrified himself for the sake of the group. Usui Takumi bravely declared he didn't mind teaming up with her. The general sight of relief, however, only came after the president's answer:

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

Here they were, facing each other in a corner of the gymn. The pervert threw his arms open, grinning:

"Come on, pres, do it and I'll catch you!" She angrily lifted her fist, ready to hit him:

"You'd better not try anything perverted or I'll make you regret it!" His smile only grew wider:

"Come on, you know me, pres." Misaki sighed at his answer.

"Yeah, I know you too well, alien." She grumbed. His smile softened. "Why don't you do it first instead, pervert?"

He chuckled, turning his back on her. Misaki was still muttering some incoherent curses when he let himself fall without hesitation. Catching Usui, she was helping him up when he stared at her face, smirking:

"You're also cute from this angle, I like it... Plus you can't punch me or I'll fall, right?" She put all of his weight on one arm and hit him with her spare hand.

"Ouch, okay, understood, your turn, now." Usui pouted, getting up while massaging his shoulder. The demon president looked away, tensing up and clenching her fists:

"I may not be able to do the same. You've just let everything go so naturally... It won't be that easy for me. I guess I'd better ask the teacher for a matress..."

He gripped her hand before she could even move away, almost begging:

"No, I want you to prove me your trust too." She sighed. Something in the alien's eyes was saying he wouldn't give up.

"Quite stubborn, aren't you?" He smirked.

"You're starting to have quite an influence on me, too."

"Whatever." She turned her back on him, preparing mentally. He stared at her, and she glanced a few times backwards, like she wanted to make sure he was still there. Was she really going to do it? If she was, he would be beaten fair and square.

Usui had realized he couldn't do it the moment the teacher explained what all that was about. But as usual he had found a way to get rid of the problem. Had rationally analysed all that could happen: even if he did fall down, all he had to fear were a few bruises. Nothing at all, indeed, so he could just relax and do it.

But she was hesitating because she really wanted to trust him and he knew it. Misaki's body was tense, her fists clenched, her head and shoulders low. She was facing the issue head on, and it was just like her to do so. A part of him was still sad that there was an issue to begin with. Hadn't he proved her she could rely on him? However, another part was whispering that if it was as simple as that, he himself wouldn't have had any troubles trusting her either.

He really felt like he just cheated on the pres. How come she was the only one able to make him feel this guilty?

Misaki tried several times, but when she felt she was losing her balance her feet was moving backwards to stop her fall. Of course she would have troubles with this, Usui thought. Basically, the pres didn't trust, rather she was doing the work herself. He followed her gaze, now directed towards the other girls. Sakura was falling non-stop from one pair of arms to another, laughing innocently. The president seemed to make a decision, tried one more time... And stared angrily at her feet, that had once again moved without her consent. Usui chuckled softly. She startled, lifting her head to give him a guilty look. She was ashamed of the time she needed to complete such a simple task, and was sorry to have dragged it upon him. Her crooked smile and softened eyes said it all.

Well, he could give her all the time she wanted, but it still made him sad, and he still felt horrible for feeling that way.

Misaki caught his puzzled expression. Damn, there was just no way this stupid thing would drag on forever! She angrily tried several times... And ended up bouncing onto the alien's chest. Usui chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and whispering right into her ear:

"Oh, so you wanted me to hug you, pres? You should just have said so from the start, I don't mind..." She blushed, groaning:

"What are you saying? Let me go, pervert! There are people around!"

"So you are saying that if there weren't any people around, this – he hugged her tighter – would be okay with you, pres?"

"This and that are different topics. Now let me go, alien!"

"But nobody's watching, plus everyone is falling in each other's arms, look." Usui gently pushed her cheek with his own. Indeed, the others were all participating. Once they had been caught by somebody, the students often started playing around. The demon president wanted to do something about it, but Usui's breath, tickling her neck, stopped her from improvizing a lecture. His whole body's warmth made her want to stay close, even thought she was already too hot. The blood that had crept to her face wasn't due to the heat at all. Now she was sure, she had to escape before she forgot where she was. Misaki muttered under her breath:

"Let me go. I need to try again." His arms loosened their grip on her, but only to go upwards and rest on her shoulders, playing with her hair. She started to protest, but he just whispered:

"Ayuzawa, you know I will catch you no matter what, don't you?" He squeezed her one last time before letting go.

Misaki breathed, concentrating once more. She fell, her leg twitched, ready to go, she forced it to stay put... Usui caught her, and a soft smile played on his lips:

"Congrats, pres, you did it." She returned the grin. Their gazes locked, time stopping all of a sudden. His smile eventually turned into a playful smirk:

"So should we continue hugging now that we're done?" She jolted, getting back on her feet:

"Hell no, pervert, now we're trying to find another partner!" He pouted:

"But it was only interesting with you!"

"Humpf!" Misaki's cheeks were bright red once again.

**Author's note: "Trust in you" is a song by The Offspring.**


	10. Afterwords 5 to 8

**Warning: Those are meant to be short sequels to the previous stories, answering the question "What happened afterwards?"**

TEARS FOR FEARS

Misaki, upon realizing what had been going on, burst out in anger at an alien that was laughing hard at her face:

"Never again, do you hear me? Don't ever prank me like this again!" His eyes lost their playfulness for an instant:

"Sorry, Misa-chan, I'm truly sorry for making you worry." By the end of his sentence, his lips had already started twitching upwards while his features tensed up in order to keep his expressionless face.

"But you're really too much, you know... I didn't think this would really work with you..." He once again burst out in laughter.

* * *

SWEETHEART

Usui narrowed his eyes, deep in thoughts. He wondered if he couldn't try out something to make his attempts taste better.

The next day, Misaki stared at him suspiciously when he asked her to come for a minute, expecting another weird move from the perverted alien. She thought she was prepared to anything. Little did she know about the course of his thoughts:

"Pres, could you kiss those desserts? It's has a genuine scientifical purpose."

Afterwards, Usui discovered it was even possible to be jealous of a cake, and thus stopped here his experiments.

* * *

LOLLIPOP

A few days later, Usui overheard a small group of students talking about "apocalypse day". This code name had been given to the day the boys seriously thought their lives would end because of the demon president's wrath. After much discussion, they concluded that the president made the muffled noises they had heard through the door before she opened it. After all, she had been fighting with their ray of hope, so it's no wonder she would have had issues.

Usui Takumi blushed hard in his corner.

From what he could recall, they had both made those sounds.

* * *

TRUST IN YOU

Misaki returned to keeping a close eye on the pack of girls, and Usui returned to the relatively confortable and fresh corner he had found. Some boys approached him discreetly, making sure the president was busy elsewhere. All that Usui understood from their praises and thanks was that somehow he saved their lives by pairing up with the demon.

If only they knew.

Or maybe it was better they didn't.


	11. Free hugs

**Warning: this is meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that nobody has come to stalk Usui yet, and that the confession hasn't happened either.**

"Manager, isn't it a bit too much? We don't even know if the clients will behave..." Subaru protested.

"Everything will be allright, girls, I have planned to hire somebody as a bodyguard in case we would have some issues. But I am certain our regular customers are not this kind of people at all." Satsuki was squealing in delight, long gone and lost in her dream world. The other maids returned to their cleaning sighing, sure now that she would not back off not matter what they would say. Only Misaki stopped arranging the empy glasses for a moment, not getting what all this was about. She tilted her head to the side, imitating the alien besides her that had done the same a few seconds ago.

"What is a free hug?"

All the other maids, that were accomplished otakus, stopped working to stare at the little newbie in front of them. Of course, they thought, she had no idea what they were talking about, being the only one not interested in conventions, mangas, animes and such. The manager landed safely on earth and explained her that she was thinking about selling the maids's hugs for a day. They would call it "free hugs day" because their customers would get a ticket for a hug from one of the maids participating if they ordered a drink plus a snack minimum. The only maids available would of course be the ones that agreed to participate. Honoka glanced at Misaki, a calculating look slowly invading her face.

"Of course the extra hugs won't be free of charge. There will be an individual reward given to the staff based on the number of tickets sold, as usual in those kind of events..."

Now the black-haired girl was definitely interested, and tried to get what this was all about. After seven different attempts at explaining thouroughly the concept of moe to the clueless maid, the others gave up: She was definitely beyond hopeless. Misaki, however, had gotten one thing clear from the others's passionate lesson:

"So you need a bodyguard to protect the girls? I could do it if you don't mind..." The manager paused, examining the possibility:

"That won't do. I need everyone serving the customers because we will be delayed by the hugs we will have to give out in addition to our usual work. If everything goes well, the café will be crowded on that day. However..." Her eyes spotted Usui, that was yawning in a corner, waiting for Misa-chan to go home. "We do need somebody that would just prevent something to happen. Somebody that won't be asked for a hug. I will look into my contacts to see if I have got someone who could do the trick. Usui, do you mind working on that day?"

"Huh? No. I'm free." They started talking about the dishes he should prepare. Misaki put her hand on her mouth to cover a yawn. Seeing the quite technical conversation the two were having, she left along with Subaru. She waved to the manager that waved back, already focused on the cake ornaments.

The two paused when they heard the door being shut and Subaru coming back, most probably to eavesdrop. Satsuki smiled to the young man in front of her.

"So, what do you want to ask?" He glanced at her, then at Honoka, coldly. The manager continued, putting a finger on her chin: "Of course, it is up to each staff member to choose if they participate in the special events or not, so I cannot stop them from volonteering, just like I cannot force them to be there, do you understand?" he nodded reluctantly.

"I would like you to hire me as a bodyguard. I will still create the dishes, and teach the kitchen staff, so there won't be any trouble, right?" As she was still hesitating, he continued, frowning: "And I think it is a little brave of you two -he glared at Honoka- to first make sure Ayuzawa will participate then ask for my cooperation, don't you think so too, manager?"

Indeed, the two thought, they may have gotten too far this time. Then Satsuki, noticing his serious features, flew to her own imaginary world, in whom Misaki and Usui were doing so many things they were totally out of character. Said Usui sighed. The manager had definitely returned to her fangirling state, and he wouldn't get anything from her. But he had one last thing to discuss, and he had to do it now.

"I would also like to be the first to buy tickets for the hugs, before everyone does." This time, he was sure he had definitely lost the manager in her imaginary world. Subaru appeared from nowhere, joining Honoka in her efforts to get Satsuki back to her senses. She gave him a quick glance before concentrating on the manager.

"You do know Misa-chan will be angry if she chooses to participate and hears about this."

"She will do it, after what somebody -he glanced sharply at Honoka- told her. Plus she would have worked on that day even if there wasn't anything planned."

* * *

"Welcome back, master! Today, you can ask for a hug!" Misaki froze. She had taken up the habit to close her eyes while she was greeting the customers, what allowed her to blurt out the welcoming sentence easier. So she had just opened her eyes to find out her clients were a group. Constitued of the three idiots, but with Hinata and the english teacher Maria as a bonus.

That was almost her personal worst case scenario becoming reality.

"What's up, Misa?" And there was the missing person to make it the worst. She looked up to Usui, then back to the newcomers. He glared at them coldly, but didn't make a move to stop them: customers were still customers. However, he could, as a bodyguard, stick to them like glue to make sure they wouldn't cause any troubles. His sadistic grin scared the five troublemakers, but they didn't back off. Misaki led the group to the three idiot's favorite table. She stayed behind for a moment:

"Manager will be angry if she hears about this." her voice was calm but not cold.

"It's not like you would tell her, right? Besides there are enough clients to replace them." Usui grumbled back.

"Truth is you're not in the mood to deal with them, isn't it?" She turned and hurried towards the newcomers, that were calling loudly at her. A slight blush had crept to her cheeks. Following her for a while, he heard her whisper softly:

"If this continues, we'll have to put you at the kitchen, understood?"

"If this cute little maid says so..." She could feel his grin.

"I should tell the manager immediatly..."

"Yeah, and you'll also explain to her why you didn't stop me."

"Damn you, Usui."

"It's nothing, Misa-chan. Me too." He whispered right before her ear before walking slowly away, scanning the entire room. Misaki's eyes unconsciously followed him while she was working with the customers. If he was making sure they were allright, she would make sure he would be the same. Today was the day of the event nicknamed "Make your boyfriend jealous if you're lucky enough to have one" by the staff, while the manager had kept it short: "hugs day". Indeed, she had had quite some troubles with combining the "free" part of the name with the notion of making the clients pay for extras, so she had been forced to remove it in the end.

A cry of despair was heard trough the entire building. The troublemakers had just learned that Misaki was the only maid not participating in the event, because she would be there to compensate the others's time loss due to the hugs.

Said maid was going from table to table, and the only bunch of girls customers, pointing Usui, made her swear solemnly they would be the first informed if they ever go for a male version of the hug day. The black-haired girl, nodding vigorously, assured she would try to convince the manager. Just imagining a shop filled with cute female customers made her regain her energy.

The only male staff in the café, however, was not thinking the same way as her at all. Massaging his forehead, he just hoped he would not be forced to attend. Usui noticed Maria's satisfied smile, and approached her table.

"You try something and I will be forced to escort you outside, understood? No weird behavior or you can forget your hug." His voice was so low it seemed like a growl from a dog ready to bite.

"So you are reduced to playing bodyguard when she won't even give you a hug. How pitiful, Takumi. You're no better than me." As usual, Maria was acting all cute, but her eyes were examining each of the girls around like a predator evaluating it's soon-to-be prey.

"Actually, I am." He smirked nastily at his teacher and pulled out something from inside his suit. The five pairs of eyes that were at the table widened, and five pairs of hands tried to grab it, but he easily lifted the small paper ticket out of their reach. Satisfied by the looks of envy and jealousy pastered on their faces, he walked away.

He felt awfully good.

* * *

The café had been packed all day long. All the maids were in a severe state of hug overdosis. Misaki, feeling guilty to have not been able to help them with the most troublesome part all day long, had taken up the cleaning of the room. Usui had been sent as help to clean the kitchen, but had finished everything at the speed of sound, and was now listening to the conversation, leaning against a wall.

"I really regret not having been able to help, I could have taken up a few hug requests, there have been some for me. The customers could have just brought another maid's tickets, since only mine were missing."

The manager patted Usui's back as she was coming back and forth between the dishwasher and the cupboards, where they put the tableware.

"You'll need a hell of a luck with her." She whispered to him before turning to Misaki:

"Truth be told, it was not that I absolutely needed somebody to work with the orders, or that I lost your tickets, rather someone bought all yours cash. Sorry, Misa-chan."

Satsuki then began a monologue on how she had been generous to the staff member that had asked her this favor, because in theory she should have risen the prices if she had had too much demand for the offer she could provide. Misaki stared hard at the perverted alien, the only staff of the shop that could have had such an idea. He just pulled out the first ticket and showed it to her, grinning, taking a few steps backwards to get into the kitchen.

"You damn perverted outerspace alien..." The pres's voice was getting louder and louder as she followed him.

"I'm asking for my first hug now." Usui threw his arms open, smiling at her. The black-haired maid glanced around, and all the staff that had followed them closely suddenly remembered they had a ton of things to do elsewhere. Of course, as soon as they were out of the room, they all sneaked back to see what was happening.

Misaki had crossed her arms against her chest.

"Have you got so much money to waste that you really feel okay with spending it like this?" She asked coldly. The alien frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side. "Whatever. I'm sure rich people have their own ways. To them, it seems everything can be bought since they have so much money to burn." She turned her back on him.

"Remember I'm not for sale, and I'll never be." The black-haired maid slowly started to walk away, her shoulders stiffened.

"But you agreed to it in the first place, am I wrong?" She stopped upon hearing his soft, low voice.

"For nothing but a hug, and you're asking for more." Misaki glanced at him over her shoulders. His arms were still open, and somehow she felt an urge to go to him. Hug him. And more.

No, she couldn't agree to this. But why the hell couldn't she leave either?

"I am only asking for a hug. Aren't you the one who wouldn't be able to stop instead?" She froze. Who was he kidding? As if she was that weak.

The pres slowly turned around. Usui's arms were becomming heavy, but he didn't care. He was still staring at Ayuzawa, whose gaze finally locked with his.

He had deep forest green eyes. The playful sparks that appeared sometimes seemed like sunshine beams lurking through the leaves. They started dissapearing as the seconds were passing.

Misaki broke the staring contest, walked to him and awkwardly threw her arms around the alien. By the time she realized what she was doing and started blushing madly, he had already returned the hug and she could feel a soft smile creeping on his lips. Usui's warmth drew her closer and closer. She hugged tighter, her arms going up his back to grip his shirt. He squeezed even more. She buried her head in the crook of his neck. Misaki felt him doing the same, and his breath tickled her shoulder.

Both their brains went away for a while.

* * *

"Let's give them some intimacy, now, girls." Satsuki's firm tone surprised the bunch of stalkers.

"Why? It was turning interesting, and then we have to stop?" The manager sighed. Honoka was really a first-class insensitive sadist.

"It's not like it was still like before. Can't you see?"

"Instead of one, there are now two people holding back. True that, I don't feel like spying on them anymore." Subaru closed the kitchen's curtain before heading to one of the tables usually reserved to customers. "If we're going to get stuck here, why couldn't we chat a little?" Erika and Satsuki followed, the latter tapping on a chair next to her. Honoka reluctantly approached as the conversation got interesting.

"Have you seen the new anime airing each tuesday night? The one with the clumsy maid?"

"Ehhh? I didn't know about it! How is it called?"

* * *

Somehow, time, this party-pooper, reminded the two they couldn't stay forever like this. On the moment, they would have both agreed it felt like a good idea, thought. Their arms loosened their grip, sliding slowly to return to their sides. They both really didn't know what to do with them anymore.

Usui went to clean some imaginary stain on the counter, Misaki went to change. They greeted the rest of the staff, and left.

Somehow, along the way back, a hand found another, and both held on tightly.

* * *

"So, I'm going to get myself another hug now. Please make it longer than the previous one!" Usui smirked, holding another ticket. Misaki threw a punch at him, that he avoided as quickly as usual while she was yelling at him:

"You pervert! Get rid of all those immediatly!" She finally snatched the small paper away. Grinning playfully, he pulled out another one. Misaki tried to get it, but he lifted it out of her reach.

"Really, you're the only one that doesn't need any of those, but you still got them all!" She growled without thinking.

Usui froze. A smile crept on his face, getting bigger and bigger. The alien handed over the ticket, awfully joyful.

"Well, if it's the case, I will repay the favor you did me at the shop today." Misaki frowned, but before she could understand what was going on he had wrapped his arms around her. Blushing, she returned the hug, whispering in his ear:

"You know damn well I don't need those tickets as an excuse."

"Yes you do, else I wouldn't have had today's two free hugs." He murmured back.

This time, they both didn't know at all what would be big enough of an excuse to pull them apart.


	12. Cold

**Warning: Alternative Universe. Kinda, because this is just one of my interpretations of what could have happened having read the manga up to chapter 52. This is also meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. All you need to know is that nobody has come to stalk Usui yet, and that the confession hasn't happened either.**

It was freezing. Misaki wrapped carefully her scarf around her neck, making sure it covered every inch of skin it could. She couldn't afford to fall sick right now. Still, the cold breeze that had appeared when the night had fallen down pierced trough, making her cheeks and every other exposed part of her skin feel numb.

Usui was following her, also covered from head to toe. Apparently, even perverted outerspace humans could mind the temperatures. Misaki just hoped they would reach home soon, because the storm that was scheduled for tonight seemed to be nearing. A gust of wind brought the first snowflakes, and she cursed inwardly. It was coming faster than she expected.

* * *

It was difficult to walk, given that the wind was blowing stronger and stronger. The president stubbornly tried to continue, but the snow was blinding her, making her feel like she was completely lost. The alien at her side pointed at a light in this colorless world, seeming to belong to the nearest store in whom they could take shelter:

"Misaki, we've got to wait for this to calm down before we continue!" He had to talk right besides her ear if he wanted her to understand. The pres, blushing, stared quizzically in the same direction as him. What kind of respectable store would be open at this hour? As they were approaching, faint voices rose, trying to make an unisson, shrieking, growling, yelling in the middle of the holwing of the wind:

"Drink! Drink! Drink!" Then: "He made it to the bottom! Hooray! A refill for everyone!"

Misaki froze, turning her head to yell right to Usui's face:

"No way, I have to get home! And I'd rather freeze outside than take a step in that pub, thank you." Usui, shocked by her tone, examined her features. Her eyes were totally serious, colder than any block of ice and full with a mix of stubbordness and.. Fear?

"It could really happen, and I sure don't want you to become an ice cube. Come on in!" Usui growled, struggling against the demon president that had visibly decided she wouldn't step in, period. He ended up having to force her inside. As soon as they closed the door, the warmth surrounded them quickly, and they began taking off their clothes. The noisy atmosphere of the conversations replaced the lone yell of the wind. Indeed, it wasn't what you could call a respectable place. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The first thing anybody would spot upon entering the place was the only taken table: A loud group of people was lifting enormous pints of what was probably beer. Nobody would be dumb enough to fill in those stuff anything stronger than that, right? Usui took his time to look around as he slowly folded his coat, a glint of curiosity appearing in his eyes. The place was dark, leaving room for the shadows born of the faint lights fixed to the wall. They said it was to prevent the liquors from being degraded by the light, but maybe it was just better they couldn't see much, after all.

Usui felt a hand slightly pulling on his sleeve, and glanced at it's owner, that was gazing straight in front of her. Misaki growled:

"Don't stare, don't even look. They'll notice and maybe pick a fight, we don't want to gather attention. Don't look surprised either. What you're doing here is not their damn buisness, and it goes the other way around as well." Usui, intrigued by her attitude, wondered where her demon aura had went. He would have imagined her overusing it out of uneasiness, but she didn't seem in the mood at all. Rather, the attitude she was putting up was brand new for him. She was tensed up, uneasy -that he could tell by her stiff shoulders and slightly figdeting hands- but just not like usual. The pres headed towards the bartender, taking a seat in front of him. Tall, large, with messy copper-colored beard and hair, he was probably very useful when it came to discourage anyone to make a fuss. She apologized for barging in, asking him if they could stay a little while and politely declining his offer to make a drink that would warm them up faster. Misaki put a hand on the counter, glaring at the weather outside. Usui passed by her and in the same direction. Snowflakes were crashing against the glass of the door harder and harder, and the wind seemed to blow by sudden gusts, lifting up all the snow available on the ground. She frowned. They would have to wait a while more. The very loud and very drunk group tried singing, and she started to tap slowly her fingers against the counter of the bar, unconsciously following the rythm.

**"I've been a wild rover for many the year,  
And I've spent all my money on whiskey and beer  
But now I'm returning with gold in great stores  
And I swear I will play the wild rover no more  
And it's no, nay, never..."** Misaki's fingers rained on the wood as the drunkards crashed their pints against the table four times. Usui frowned, glancing at her fingers to then stare at the pres's face. She was still looking outside, long lost in her thoughts.

**"No, nay, never, no more"** Four other fast beats, then her hand returned to the normal tempo.

**"Will I play the wild rover...  
No, never, no more."** One of the singers fell from his chair and rolled under the table. Several heads groogily searched for him, not getting what happened, and the voices stopped singing in the confusion. One made the man behind the counter lift his head from the papers he was examining:

"Refills again, for the glory of saint patrick!" The owner sighed and shook his head, dissaproving:

"Look, in Ireland, when somebody is drunk enough to not remember everyday's not Saint Patrick's, we advise him he should go easy with the drinks." Angry, the man threw a handful of bills on the table, whining:

"I have money, if it's what you want!" The owner sighed again, mumbling:

"I know you've got the cash, else I wouldn't have let you order that much..." He still went to take it, gathering all the empty pints on the tray he had taken with him. Once back behind the counter, he growled to the two youngsters:

"Everything and everyday's an excuse for one wanting to drink."

Misaki nodded slowly in agreement. The bartender seemed to want to say something, but in the end just gave an apologetic look to the black-haired girl.

* * *

**"In heaven, there is no beer!  
That's why we drink it here!"**

Apparently, there were at least two other lines in the song, however even the entire bunch of drunkards, combining the very few of their brain cells that hadn't drowned in alcohol, wasn't able to remember them. But they were still at it, trying over and over to complete the song like it was the most important thing in the world.

Misaki and Usui had both been convinced to get something to drink, as the man in front of them kept saying it was on the house. The raven-haired girl had asked for some tea, the perverted alien for the same. Supressing his laughter, the bartender had admitted he didn't remember the last time he had served something without a trace of alcohol, but he still managed to get it done fast.

While half of Misaki's tea was still left, Usui had long ago finished his when it was still warm.

The bartender was rubbing the last glass of the dishwasher, and eventually lined it up with the others. He glanced hesitantly at the blond boy that was sticking near Misaki, but finally whispered to the black-haired girl gazing blankly at the bottles of liquor behind the counter:

"Still no news?" She seemed to snap out of her thoughts upon hearing his voice. Noticing the glass in front of her, her hand crept to lift it slowly.

"Nope, and I hope I'll never have." Misaki firmly answered. She started moving the half-empty container to make the remaining liquid catch the faint light. Again, she was lost in thoughts, seeming to be slowly drowning in the amber-colored liquid.

"Sorry." The girl blinked at the apology, like she couldn't really believe it was adressed to her, and lifted swiftly the glass to finish it in one row.

"You don't have to." The soft thud of the glass being put back on the counter punctued her sentence. She sighed, glancing outside where the storm seemed to have calmed down. "Time to go, it seems to be getting better. Thank you for the drinks, and don't take it personally if I say I'd rather avoid meeting again." She headed towards the door, followed like her shadow by Usui.

"I won't, Misaki." They were putting on their coats and scarfs. Hopefully they had had enough time to dry.

"I'd prefer you don't call me by my first name." Her voice was ice cold.

"Like mother, like daughter." Sadly chuckled the bartender as he turned around to refill another empty glass.

"Whatever." She grumbled while closing the door. The cold surrounded her again, and she started shivering unconsciously. At least the storm wasn't going to stop her from going home now. Misaki walked hurriedly away, startling when the alien spoke out. She had almost forgotten he was there.

"Seems like you're well-known, even thought you kept saying you didn't want to go in." He was trying hard to make his voice softer, but he cursed himself when he discovered how harsh it sounded. Usui was concentrating on the sound of both their feet crushing the newly fallen snow, but his mind was always drifting back to her. He had already an idea of what was responsible for the scene he had just witnessed, and he was also pretty sure it wasn't her fault at all. Still, he felt on edge for some reason. Maybe he just hated this storm for forcing the pres to go back in time while she obviously didn't want to. If this hadn't happened, she wouldn't have felt the need to blurt out things she would have wished to keep to herself for a while more. But now it was pretty sure she would want to explain herself. So damn honest. So he was asking the questions first, trying to give her the opportunity to say as much as she wanted but no more. The rest could wait until she would be ready.

Misaki lifted slowly her head to look at him in the eyes. She tried to put up a strong front, but it was clear to Usui a very old wound had been reopened tonight.

He should have just shut the hell up, and maybe she would have done the same. You never know with her. They continued walking in silence. After a moment that seemed to drag on forever, the black-haired girl finally got some words out of her throat. They had been strangling her from the inside, stuck, silencing her.

"My father drank too much." She quivered, feeling colder than ever. The memories were invading her brain again, vivid like it all happened yesterday.

Usui's hands crept in her back, going back and forth, rubbing her shoulders and sides to try to warm the pres up a little. He pulled her to him, holding her close, still rubbing her side with his hands. That was the least he could do. And Misaki made a lame excuse out of her own feeling of being slowly frozen to death to not pull apart and rest her head on his shoulder.

His warmth was making the cold go away.

**Author's note: The bunch of drunkards was trying to sing "The Wild rover", then "In heaven there is no beer". **

**The irish pub, Misaki's past, and her father's character/background are of course my imagination going out of hand. I don't really think it's what happened since there's nothing pointing towards that direction as for now. So someday it will become AU and perhaps OoC too. Consider it as me using the lack of data on her past to tweak things my way.**

**And now, since I'm very curious about your reactions, a question for those who have the time to answer it: What did you understand from this? What do you think happened? What have you imagined to complete the missing parts? In short: What was left unsaid? Thank you very much!**


	13. Enjoy the silence

**Warning: to be read as happenning after chapter 52 and before chapter 58, read while somebody is spying on Usui. Kinda an Alternative Universe because it would have made more sense if the spy had come in the picture a few months later, giving some people a little more time. **

A perverted outerspace alien was walking with Seika high's demon president. The few students they met at this late hour did not seem the least surprised by the sight, that had become very usual those times. However, there was something far from being normal: A man in black stalked them, his piercing eyes analyzing every little movement of his target.

Usui Takumi seemed to be considered as some kind of decoration following the president everywhere she went after class to fulfill her duties: he was even less useful than an empty chair, but nobody cared about him anymore. However, now even Ayuzawa Misaki was not sparing him the least bit of attention. The very one that kind of granted diplomatic immunity to Usui in all circumstances by accepting his presence was acting like she was giving him the cold shoulder, and he was acting like he didn't mind at all. In fact, he was following her the faithful dog's way: Not expecting anything from his master but still here because he couldn't imagine being anywhere else than at her side.

It was not that the two were having a fight: One, the man would have known about it since he had been watching the boy all day. And two, sometimes a quick glance indicated they aknowledged the other's presence. It lasted a second before they returned to whatever they were doing as if nothing happened.

Either those two had made a complete turnaround, or Miyazono Maria's informations were false.

In both cases, it was definitely suspicious.

* * *

Misaki looked up hesitantly at Usui. They had arrived at a point where they should have parted: This was the first day in ages that she had taken a day off work, so she wanted to head home to study, while he would most likely want to return to his appartment. But he was smiling softly, inclinating his head towards the train station. The president frowned, looking back to their stalker. Indeed, the second alien was sticking like glue to the first. She focused again on Usui. Was he really allright with somebody following them? He nodded. It was enough for now if he could just steal a moment where they could be close without people looking at them. Besides, he didn't really mind the fact that they would have to stay silent. There were tons of things they could do without uttering a single word.

One thing was sure to Misaki, the alien's perverted grin was too perverted for her tastes. She blushed, angrily clenching her fists. He just chuckled, but his eyes focused again on her, pleading. The alien's puppy eyes were begging so much she eventually sighed, inwardly cursing.

And now his smile was too triumphant to her tastes too, but the competitive part of her was not reacting at all. It had been too long since the last time she had been able to behave naturally. Misaki just wanted to treat Usui like usual, without having to put up a fake front. To stop this awkward play. She innerly blamed herself for not being able to act at all, for depending on him, hating and torturing herself each time she found she had done it again. But after all, if she could have just a moment, she was willing to mourn over her weaknesses until the first rays of light came into her bedroom. Equivalent exchange, was it? She found it was kind of worth it, anyway.

That was unlike her. Low. Desperate. Weak. Selfish. Clingy.

But hell she needed it bad. A refill, something, anything that would give her energy instead of taking it. But why did she feel like a failure all of a sudden? It hadn't happened in a very long time, since she had made sure to have no regrets whatsoever. She was not doing something bad, right?

Usui felt her stay close to him, even thought they had started moving again. A crooked smile appeared on his face, and he made sure their arms would rub against each other with the movements of their walk. That was the maximum they could do until somebody would be forced to stay put at the other side of the door.

Hell he wanted to take her hand.

Misaki felt his knuckles rubbing against the back of her hand. She clenched her fists. She had to be careful or else her body would act on it's own again.

* * *

They already, at last, reached his appartment building. Time had stretched, not obeying the normal, unmovable law that usually defined it's course. A second it seemed like the walk would take forever, an eternity of subtle and silent torture with somebody trying to pierce a hole in their backs to read their hearts and brains. The next, one wished this could continue on for a while more. There was something enjoyable about hiding everything to the world but still being able to feel alone... With just one other person.

Usui closed the door behind him, not bothering to leave it open for their follower. If he wanted to stalk them so bad, he would have to figure out a way to enter here by himself, even thought the probability was high he had already planned something.

Now to resist the urge to press the very tempting emergency button, too. The only thing it would grant him would be a few hours of general panic, until they made sure it was a fake... During whom Misaki could invite him to her family's house. If he planned things right, he could even get to sleep there, under the very nose of his stalker. That wouldn't be able to say a thing since he actually had a good excuse.

So very damn tempting.

* * *

Misaki glanced at the man following them. He leaned against a wall, not looking anywhere else than the neat floor of the hallway leading to Usui's appartment. Her gaze went back to the other alien, that kept the door open for her, and she slowly followed him inside.

As soon as a reassuring click broke the silence, her arm got out of control, sliding around his waist, while his own was sneaking through her back to rest on her side, pulling her closer.

Misaki shivered. She didn't even have the time to think about what she was doing: her body was acting, she could just witness. Her grip became tighter as they were turning to face each other and his face came closer to hers. Their gazes locked, time stopped. So convenient.

His eyes were saying he wouldn't let go and hers were answering she was totally okay with that. Anyway, she wasn't planning to do so either.

Their foreheads were now touching, and he could feel her irregular breath on his skin. Usui's heart nearly stopped when she closed the distance between their lips.

Halelluyah.

* * *

Two very dissapointed people were still staying silent in the appartment. In fact, they had been fine with where the situation was leading them... until they had heard an uneasy cough at the other side of the door. Sadly, it had brought them back to reality: Stopping right behind the door wasn't the smartest idea in their situation, and if they had tried to stay unnoticed, it was an epic fail. Blushing madly, Misaki had kicked Usui away before walking in briskly. Not without an arm slid around her waist and a perverted alien grinning widely at her side, thought.

Said perverted alien was currently cooking under the vigilant eyes of the president. She was definitely going to try to learn from him when given the occasion. No, it was not because she wanted to stay close to him. Not only. Wait, what?

When Usui could take a break, he was turning to her with a smile and giving her a quick kiss before she could react. Sometimes on the forehead, sometimes on the cheeks or lips. Each time it happened she was blushing more and more, pushing him back to his ingredients and backing off. As the alien was swiftly returning to his cooking like nothing happened, the president was observing him for a moment before deciding it would be better if she approached again. Better if she wanted to improve her cooking, of course.

When she peeked over his shoulder one more time, Usui regretted she had refused to stay in his arms. He could have taught her more things by whispering instructions in her ear.

When he finally put the meal in a plate, she was already as red as a tomato. However, she managed to look even more flustered when she noticed there was one plate missing. Frowning, she shook her head in refusal and opened the cupboard in whom she thought the tableware was stored. Misaki looked in the direction where their stalker should have been. Wouldn't he notice there were not enough used plates for the number of the persons eating? Usui just smirked and put another plate on his arm, next to the full one on his hand, before picking two pairs of chopsticks along the way to the coffee table. The first plate landed in front of the couch and the second away, the alien making sure both would cling slightly against the table. The black-haired girl glanced at him. He had a very satisfied smile plastered on his face.

Misaki sighed, defeated. She was just hoping the spy behind the door wouldn't notice something was off. As Usui had already taken one side of the couch, she sat on the floor at the other end of the coffee table. He pouted, pointing the empty space next to him.

Fifteen minutes of a heated (but silent) argument after, Misaki was on the sofa...But the outerspace alien was sitting in front of her. Looking somewhat dejected, he pushed the plate at the center of the table before picking up his chopsticks to present a bite to Misaki. Her quite shocked look indicated she hadn't thought of this way of eating at all. The pres sighed, frowning. She had had enough with the dish sharing thing already.

Ten minutes later, they were feeding each other and the annoyed look on Usui's face had been replaced by a playful grin. Indeed, the place was not that bad given the good view he had on the pres. However, it was her turn to pout. She glared at him, trying to make him understand he was the most infuriating alien of the universe, but ended up leaning down to take the rice he proposed her. She lifted her eyes up to the ceiling in annoyance, not noticing he was smiling softly.

* * *

One last bite. Who would get it?

They looked at each other. Misaki had the impression she had already seen something similar before... Wasn't it in one of the animated movies their mother made Suzuna and her watch when they were little? The one with two dogs sharing a plate? She frowned, trying to remember.

Usui took the opportunity to snatch the bite. Taking it between his teeth, he looked at her with a glint of playfulness in the eye. Blushing, she finally pointed out what was misleading her: his eyes were exactly the same as the ones of a puppy looking at a dog treat, hoping with all his might it would come down so that he could eat it. Usui leaned over the table slowly, resting his two hands on it. His eyes were still pleading as he tilted his head to the side. Misaki closed the distance between them, her heart beating faster and faster as she felt his breath coming nearer. Finally, her lips met the bite and tried to catch it.

They kissed softly. As she was kissing back, Misaki leaned forward more... Making the sofa creak. They both froze, then pulled back. While Usui was clearly showing his annoyance, Misaki blushed like crazy, looking away, trying to munch discreetly what had happened to pass by her mouth at the moment they had parted. They both reached for the plates, suddenly in need to do something. Hopefully there were two, or they could have started a fight out of frustration.

That didn't stop them from fighting over who would do the dishes, thought.

* * *

Smiling quite triumphantly, Misaki was scrubbing a plate. Usui, that was trying hard not to chuckle, had still obtained the right to place the clean tableware on the side of the sink once she was finished with it. Incredible how the pres could get fired up over two plates, a few chopsticks and a pair of glasses.

After they were finished, she tried to check the hour, thinking about leaving since it was already quite late (and somebody behind the door could start imagining things), but the alien gently led her in front of the the hudge window and sat down, opening his arms in her direction. His grin grew wider when he noticed she glanced quickly back at the couch before returning to him, blushing. If he needed to sit on the ground, it definitely meant that somehow he was planning something that would have made the couch creak...

There were the puppy eyes, back at full throttle. He pulled her sleeve, and she was already thinking that his lap seemed comfortable enough for a long stay. Wait, what?

What was she hesitating about, already? Something like risking to lose her mind? Well, she was already more than half way through, so she might as well continue. Misaki sat down, Usui's hands sliding from her arms to rest on her sides as she was going down to his level. At the alien's slight dissapointment, she ended up avoiding his lap to sit between his legs. But whenever she refused part of his demands, he somehow could only notice the fact that the glass was still half full since she had acccepted something. Funny how his point of view could change when it came to her. He had even measured the maximum amount of time he could dwell on a half-refusal from her. It was two point five seconds, the time he needed to take a look at her again.

He was not hopeless, He was just beyond that. Like he cared, anyway. Right now, he was just hopelessy happy. Even beyond that.

She had turned around to look at the city's lights -truth be told, to hide her embarassment-. As the sun was still setting, they hadn't needed to put on the lights yet, what allowed them to see without being seen by the outside. Usui's arms sneaked around her waist. Misaki shivered, even her neck reddening as her hands went up to rest on his. She leaned on his chest before letting out a soft sight.

The view from here was great, but Usui wasn't thinking about the city at all.

He started kissing slowly her neck, going down her shoulder. They tensed up each time she felt his lips on her, almost hitting his teeth, and she had to bite her lip to stop any sound from coming out of her mouth. Misaki tried to face him, leaning on a hand, and he caught her lips as soon as he had the chance to do so. She kissed back, finishing her turnaround on instinct rather than anything else. He made her feel so dizzy...

They really enjoyed this silence. Thought Usui liked it even more when she broke the kiss to whisper, so softly, four words right against his lips:

"Damn, I love you."

**Author's note: "Enjoy the silence" is sung by Depeche Mode.**

******To Anazarel: Yes, you got it all right. =) **


	14. Someday

**Warning: to be read as happening before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that nobody has come to stalk Usui yet, and that the confession has yet to happen too.**

She was going back slowly. Another day had come to an end, and she was glad she was done with it. Still, once she would get home there would be a few things she needed to get done before she could rest. The young girl pushed the door and heard some loud voices coming from the kitchen. Two were definitely male. Hinata had perhaps decided to stop by and stay for dinner tonight. She indeed spotted him, her sister and Usui sitting at the table. Her mother, facing the stove, turned her head to smile at the newcomer.

"Welcome home! Hinata decided to stop by and bring vegetables, while Usui was just passing by." The girl nodded, sitting down with the others. They were already back to the fight they had interrupted earlier when she had come in. Her sister seemed to be entirely focused on the folder she had opened on the table.

"I can't see why I souldn't call you Sanshita, because it really fits you." Usui said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"It's Shin-ta-ni, or Hi-na-ta!" The young boy puntued each syllab with his hand, pointing at the indifferent blond guy.

"Oh, so who's You?"

"Yeah, there's also this nickname, but not for you!"

"It's too complicated, I'll continue calling you by your name, Sanshita." Sighed Usui, scratching the back of his head.

Her mother called her, and she felt relieved to have something else to do. Altrough her sister didn't see it, Hinata always attempted to make a move on her discreetly. That was perhaps the first time of his life he was trying anything the subtle way, but he was already able to create an atmosphere making any witness feel like they are a third wheel. Of course, Usui was also trying to counter his influence and get more attention, so the air was kind ot tense. Even more when the girl concerned wanted above all to be left alone to focus on her files.

It was not like she could ever get angry at her sister, that was obviously clueless and had already made a decision. Neither could she resent the other party, who really just followed his heart.

For now, Suzuna just hoped that someday, somehow, the winds would turn and blow her way.

**Author's note**: **"Someday" is sung by Nickelback.**

**I am not satisfied with how this came out, but I really feel like I both have nothing else to change and that I should publish it, so there it is.**

**To Anazarel: When I was re-reading _Enjoy the silence, _I started thinking I had written an usaki one-shot as if the stalker had waited a few months before appearing. Something's different about those two, like they actually had a little more time to get things straight. I'm putting an AU warning at the beggining, just in case.**

**To Woolsmynx: I did not think of the bartender having a debt to the Ayuzawas -I thought it was the opposite-, but you could be right too. **

**I want to write a sequel to Cold to explain a few more things (including why the bartender's so gentle and apologetic, no he's not like that to just everybody), but I am still hesitating to make it with the current plot I have in mind. Well, it will sure be different, and dark. If you ever find a new one-shot named "Need you now", it will most probably be it.**


	15. Change

**Warning: to be read as happening before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that Usui's family hasn't come into the picture yet.**

Three nights a week, a certain black-haired girl was starting to get flustered as she was wondering what she ought to do.

Three nights a week, Misaki gave up and searched for an excuse to go and stay out later than usual.

Three nights a week, her mother and sister were glancing at her guilty face and bringing up the fact that they had too much apples.

Three nights a week, she ended up saying that she would go give out apples to the neighboors, and they were looking at her like she had just let out something very funny.

Three nights a week, she had to cope with the sharp stares of her family, that seemed to understand so much more than what she had told them.

Three nights a week, they always reminded her to take the apples when she went out, else she would have forgotten them long ago.

Three nights a week, she was using the subway, but not to go to her part-time job.

Three nights a week, she was entering a modern, high-class building with a slight feeling of not belonging to the place.

Three nights a week, she hurried to the stairs -for security reasons, there were still some, hidden under the "emergency exit" name- and sped up while climbing them, thinking that a bit of exercising wouldn't do her any bad.

Three nights a week, she stopped before an anymous door in the hallway, but knew better as to mistake it for another.

Three nights a week when she knocked a perverted outerspace alien opened, his defiant look turning into a soft smile as he recognized her.

Three nights a week, the way he looked at her really felt like home.

Three nights a week, he also swept away every single cell of her brain.

Three nights a week, she was cuting rabbit-shaped apples perfectly, because as they said practice makes perfect.

Three nights a week, Usui still made better rabbits than her and she glared suspiciously at his smirking face.

Three nights a week, she ended up spending half the night with him, not even aware of when they had started pushing back the time for her to go.

Three nights a week, Misaki ended up hurrying home cursing Usui, that as usual just laughed it off.

Three nights a week, she realized she had also been the one not wanting to go home sooner.

Three nights a week, when she eventually came back, her mother and Suzuna said she had found somebody really addicted to apples and she blushed madly.

**Author's note: "Change" is sung by the Tears for fears**


	16. No comments

**Warning: This is meant to happen before chapter 50 of the manga. You just have to know that Usui's family hasn't come into the picture yet and that he's still at Seika.**

"Prepare for your punishment!" The demon president's yell resonated in the dojo. However, the guys in front of her were looking everything but ready to die. Quivering, terrified, they were still stammering apologies in a futile hope of forgiveness. A group of girls was hiding behind Misaki, making sure she would always be between the boys and them.  
Away from the main commotion, hidden behind the locker used to store the bokkens, a microphone crackled as it was switched on. The owner of the engine grumbled a few curses, tapping it then clearing his throat, and took a peek towards the center of the room.

_The match is going to start and the opponents are already fired up. Even the public is eagerly awaiting the beggining of this death match between Misaki Ayuzawa from the Demon team and the student council members from the Student Council team._  
Equip: check. Magics: check. Skills: check. Demon wrath: available.

A pen scribbled on paper somewhere behind the microphone owner as a second head appeared above of the first one.  
"I had already warned you, this is the result of your slacking off!" The demon growled.  
Several beeps later, a camera started clicking as the third team member took the risk of moving behind the pommel horse next to the locker in order to get better shoots.

_They are already exchanging words while the referee has yet to appear. This is the guarantee of a match that we haven't seen in decades, an outstanding competition between two teams ready to kill._  
Misaki Ayuzawa: Bonus +50% if fighting against a guy. Bonus +50% if purpose is protecting a girl.

"We are sorry, we didn't mean it! Really" The frightened voice of a boy whined.

_Is that a forfeit? Is one of the teams trying to avoid the match?_  
Ennemy move: Escape.

"You're not getting out of this room unharmed! You were obviously trying to entertain yourself by harrassing the girls instead of working!" The president's tone was lowering with each word she uttered, but the witnesses knew it was a preparation for the outburst that was coming very soon.

_The other team is refusing to back off! They are confident in their abilities, while their opponents seem to doubt they have a chance of winning!_  
Escaping fail. Advantage to player Misaki Ayuzawa.

A terrified little guy hid behind the door upon hearing the ferocious roar. He took a cowardy look inside and the president spotted him, making the said guy yelp in panic.  
"Yukimura, what's this? How come you didn't notice they were slacking off?

_The referee is finally getting on the battlefield, the tension is rising while the public is waiting for him to give his approval for his match._  
Judge's requirements: none.

"I am so sorry, president, I couldn't stop them, and they swore they would kill me if I reported the matter to you like I was planning to!" The vice-president was weeping without restrains, his teary eyes full of panic at the idea of his role model doubting his integrity and devotion.

_Is the referee being influenced by one of the team leaders? The supporters of both sides are staring at him._  
Team bonus chosen: ATK +10%

"So you guys are playing that low? Threatening Yukimura, thinking I wouldn't notice?" The student council members shrinked but some still got the bravery to glare nastily at the vice-president.  
"You're dead! Why do you have to be so transparent!"

_The tension is rising. Is the other team now threatening the referee? The public is impatiently waiting for any official declaration to come out._  
Conditions for winning the battle: Protect the girls.

"I'm so sorry for being transparent!" the small boy sobbed.  
"Yukimura, you don't have to apologize for this!" Misaki's infuriated voice made him quiver like a candle in the wind.  
"I'm terribly sorry, president."

_Is the referee unable to do his job? He may have to call his replacement if he thinks he will not be fair towards the two teams._  
Mizaki Ayuzawa has a good relationship with the judge. She will be have more chances of inflicting critical damage for a while.

"Well, I can sure see it." The black-haired girl sighed.  
"Thank you, president!"  
"Don't thank me for this!" said president smacked her palm against her forehead, rolling her eyes in annoyment. When Yukimura started a whole essay in order to apologize properly, she cut him "Stop. We'll see later if there's anything worth discussing, okay?"  
"President is the best!" The teary eyes were back, but this time full of joy an respect. He was so much like a puppy, in a way, that right now even Hinata could have felt threatened by the level of his skills.

_Is it going to start? We are at the peak of the exitement. The crowd is craving for blood!_  
Engaging battle.

The demon president turned her attention back to the boys. They were shrinking under her glare, but not enough to hope for an escape by a mouse's hole. The demon walked to her nearest victim.

_The Demon team's leader is more than ready. She is going to go wild, referee or not! But what is he doing, by the way?_  
Judge tried to attack the opponents. HP -0,05%, but judge's bravery lowered by 99%.

Yukimura, that had been keeping a focused eyes on his role model to try to mimic her manly attitude, imitated one of her moves. Sadly, it soon enough turned into another epic fail, and Kanou, stepping out of the corner in whom he had been hiding since the beggining of the troubles, picked him up to stop the obviously suicidal move he had started. Yukimura tried to get away from his grip, but only managed to look even more helpless if possible.

_Ah, the referee's assistant has finally come into the picture. Will he be able to make sure his master stays impartial during the match?_

"What the hell are you saying? Kanou isn't a maid! You shouldn't have taken up the task of reporting, you're too much of an otaku!" a voice whispered near the bokken lockers.  
"No, I'm just adding this for our female readers, so that they stay focused on the game! Adding some references to yaoi is the best way to acquire a large audience!"  
"What's up with this yaoi thing? How dare you betray our Misa-chan and replace her with some _male_! Noboby can surpass her! Do it for us only, the only real admirer of our great Misa-chan, and don't even dream of showing it to others or her watchdog will catch us! It's enough already that this videogames addict is writing some weird stuff, we don't need you betraying our beloved maid!" Both said games addict and otaku protested. "No buts! It's our life we are putting on the line by doing this, remember? You just draw and take pictures from now on since you're so good at it, and I'll take the mike."

_Transmission problems forced us to interrupt temporarily our commentary. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused. I'll be your new commentator starting from now. Pleased to meet you! Now let's concentrate on this fabulous match._  
Battle begins! Ally phase. Mizaki Ayuzawa attacks.

The demon president went to each of the guilty student council members, her demon aura paralyzing them -it was indeed better for their own good if they didn't try anything, else she could not guarantee they would be able to stay unharmed-. Two or three seconds after she had reached her targets, they were hitting the mats heavily and she finnished them off with her ground techniques. Said targets were not reacting much, too scared of the consequences. Instead, they fought to get at the end of the line that was forming at the farthest corner from the demon's current position. Usually, the president was getting tired after a while, so she cut it fast. It was more painful because she wasn't controlling her strenght, but they still thought it was better than when she took the time to get things done properly. Of course, exiting the space covered with tatamis without having received their complete punishment would lead them to hell, so it was out of the question to put a feet outside the "safe zone". Indeed, they all had tried once. And discovered those mats weren't that hard compared to the bare floor.

_It's an unleashed captain that is now trying to pierce the other team's defense. Won't they try to counterattack the ferocious move?_  
Ennemy phase.

Three boys, that were until now whispering in a corner, moved towards the beggining of the line. Needless to say, the rest of the condemned gladly gave up their places. The threesome waited for Misaki to be fully focused on the sports representative to surround her.

_Ah? Here's the pay back! Three of the pillars of the team are moving to try a team attack?_  
3 ennemies team up for a special move.

At the leaders's yell, the three jumped on the president. The other guys cheered for them, but still stayed at a safe distance. The odds weren't that high.

_They come from three different directions. What will the demon leader do this time?_  
Countering chances: 80%

Misaki swiftly bent down, making one of the guys trip on her. Lifting herself up and pulling on his arm, she threw him in the direction of her two other opponents. The demon's aura grew heavier as she slided to the three that had dared to resist her. Terrified, they tried a last suicidal maneuver, but were mericlessy slammed against the floor one more time.

_It's another epic fail as the demon team's captain uses her special move "the demon hurricane!" It's an honor to be able to witness such a high-level move. She swirls and turns and cracks skulls in a brute outburst of demonic wrath._  
Ayuzawa Misaki has avoided the attack and counterattacked. 3 ennemies down.

Altrough the rebel group was now completely tamed, Misaki's dark aura was still not weakening, all the opposite. She couldn't believe there were boys that still hadn't gotten that they'd better stay obedient if they want to live. It was the proof that she hadn't been assertive enough.

_Ah, is there going to be a penalty? What is the referee saying?_  
Judge's time.

Yukimura, terrfied by the demon's aura, eventually ran away, followed by Kanou.

_The referee has left the battlefield. Was he so disgusted with the low playing of the student council team, or terrified by the power of the demon team?_  
The judge has left the battlefield. The ATK+10% bonus is inneficient and allies cannot be revived if their HP reach 0.

* * *

"Why are you hiding here?" The three idiots startled at the exact same time, raising their heads to look at the blond guy that had appeared out of nowhere. Upon recognizing him, they lifted their arms up, rather in an attempt to protect their faces than a surrender signal. Several beatings from the demon president made you learn fast the best way to cover up the most sensitive parts of your body.

"What? Usui? Look, we weren't doing anything illegal! We swear!" Seika high's ray of hope snatched away the sketchbook, the notebook, the microphone and the camera still in their hands. Since he seemed to be interested in those rather than their owners, the three fled as fast as possible, then hid at what they thought was a safe distance. Usui glanced at the three idiots's belongings, curious. He took out the camera's memory card before putting it back on the ground, did the same with the recorder hooked to the mike and left with both memory cards, plus the notebooks.

Still in hiding, three idiots waited for the watchdog to return to his favorite game -getting on the president's nerves- to retrieve their things. They sighed in concert, relieved.

"We've made it! We're still alive!"

"So... Are we going _there_ after classes?"

"Of course. I think this time we have enough to get a sundae."

"Still... All our work was for nothing..."

"Let's not talk about this anymore."

* * *

Farther away, a perverted alien was smirking. No, their hard work was definitely not going to go to waste. Sneaking behind the pres, he bent down to her ears and whispered:

"I've got quite nice pictures, and drawings of you, too. Wanna see them?" He grinned as he saw Misaki's shoulders jerk upwards.

"What are you saying, you perverted outerspace alien!"

Yes, now he felt right again. There was definitely no room for more than one pervert here.

And somehow, it had to be him too.

**Author's note: The videogames that I was refering to were most probably FFTA2 GotR (the judge and it's influence on the team bonus, the conditions to winning the battles, the countering chances and counterattacks that can severly damage anybody stupid enough to make the first move), FFTA WotL (the bravery stat which shouldn't be too low unless you want your character to desert in the middle of your fight), Valkyrie Profile CotP or Disgaea (ennemy/ally turns)****, and P3 or P4 (if a move fails, the opponent gets the advantage, and when engaging battle you can get to move first or be attacked depending of whether you surprised the ennemy. Also, the bonds between team members influing on battle efficiency. Plus special/all out attacks using 2 or more allies from the party). *RPG fanatic*  
**


	17. Summer ghost

**Warning: to be read as happening before chapter 50 of the manga. All you need to know is that Usui's family has not come into the picture yet, and that he's still at Seika. The confession has yet to happen, too.**

"That's it, I'm locking all the water points! No exceptions since you can't behave!" The president's yell frightened the soaked wet boys standing all apologizes in front of her. She had cut the water at the outside taps already: In return, they had used the bathrooms's sinks to fill their bottles and play "water tag" in the corridors before the beggining of the first period. "To cool down before going to class in order to better focus on our studies", as the culprits had tried to explain. The water stains found everywhere in the school had soon enough turned to mud with the help of the other students going in: Right now it seemed like an army had roamed through the hallways after a good month of training in the amazonian jungle.

Another lot of ranting, punching and yelling later, the demon president left them here to go fetch the keys to the bathrooms before the beggining of her classes. When he thought she couldn't hear them, one student threw the last bottle -kept for emergency use- on his comrades. That protested, started to fight again... But froze in the middle of their moves, eyes filled with terror. The student that had provoked them wondered what was going on, until he noticed the black aura that was radiating from right behind him. Slowly, carefully, his head turned to the side, and his eyes met those of a demon.

"I will remember what you have done... Be certain, I will remember you when the time comes..." It growled.

When the terrified student came back to his senses, he only saw two backs at the other end of the hallway.

* * *

"It was lenient of you to not give him an additional punishment, pres." Usui seemed to appear out of nowhere. At his slight dissapointment, said president only sighed when she noticed his presence.

"Since when were you watching?" The perverted outerspace alien adjusted to Misaki's speed, just smirking playfully in answer to the her suspicious stare. They walked in silence until she realized he would not answer. "Nevermind, I shouldn't even have asked. Of course aliens can read brainwaves and see everything happening on earth." Opening the door of a classroom, Misaki continued, grumbling:

"Back to the topic, who is lenient? I am saving up for later. Katada!" At her call, a neatly dressed student approached.

"Yes, president?"

"Go to the men's bathrooms of the second floor, and take a look around until you've found a bunch of soaked wet idiots. Make sure to take good pictures, especially the of ones that will try to stop you, plus of the most important mud and water stains you'll find around. Quick, before the evidences dry!"

"I'm going right now." He returned to take a small purse in his bag, then left hurriedly.

After making sure everything was clear in the room, Misaki closed the door and headed to the teachers's office, throwing a fit until Usui accepted to stay in his classroom -his teacher would begin the lecture in less than five minutes, but hers wouldn't come before another half an hour-.

After discussing the details of the "drought operation" with the teachers and staff, Misaki went back with a key in her hand and a satisfied smile on her face. The latter soon dissapeared when she overheard curses and laughters coming from the bathrooms. Sprinting, she eventually found another bunch of idiots fighting with water. They saw her too, and fled immediatly. Cursing, she stopped regretfully at the entrance, glancing inside. Of course, nobody would be stupid enough to hide there. She slammed the door, turning the key twice in the lock before running after the guys. She had to teach them a lesson before the bell's ring. Her demon aura increased as a sadistic smile appeared on her lips. She would have to make this quick and painful.

Inside the men's bathrooms, a small, girly voice rose from one of the farthest doors:

"Was that the president? Please wait before locking, I have to wash my hands!"

Only silence answered him.

* * *

It was the rush in the student council room: They had to close all the files before summer, but they were missing just a damn little piece of paper to complete the previous month's expenses. In the middle of the panic, Misaki startled, taking a look around, and at last realized what was the something she was finding odd. It was not this missing document. Neither the fact that a perverted alien was sitting on her desk once again, able to stay half asleep and look very much bored in the middle of the general chaos.

"Has somebody seen Yukimura?" Her eyes scanned one more time the panicked faces of the student council members going back and forth through the entire room, turning over everything they could in a desperate attempt to get their hands on the bill stating that, indeed, they had bought a spare box of staples because of a sudden shortage.

Usui, yawning, glanced at Misaki. True that, he hadn't seen his item of entertainment today -he always made sure he kept one near in case the president kicks him out-. Kanou, that had also been participating to the general fuss for quite a while, fidgeted. Squashing in a corner in a futile attempt to not be in the way of the others still searching, he gulped before throwing suddenly:

"I haven't seen him at all, president. I don't know if he went to school today. Maybe he fell sick." She frowned. It was not like the vice-president at all to miss even one school period, neither was it to not tell anyone about it.

"Yes, it should be this. Kanou, could you make sure that he will get all the things he needs? Go to the teacher's office to get his homework and test results, too." The tall guy nodded and left immediatly.

* * *

"If there isn't anything else, I'll have to go make sure teacher Maria gets safely out of here. I forbade her from putting a feet outside the teacher's office without me until the summer comes, so I have to send her home." Not really awaiting an answer, the president reached for her bag, rose up from her chair and walked briskly to the entrance, Usui following a few steps behind. The student council members shivered, looking at each other. This wasn't going to be easy to voice out.

"What is it?" Misaki, already reaching for the doorknob, glanced quizzically at the guys. They had regrouped like terrified cattle confronted to a predator.

"There are rumors of a ghost in the second floor's men's bathrooms..." whispered a terrified student hiding in the middle of the pack.

"So what, are we the UFO club now? Get serious, do you have anything worth discussing?" The demon president's menacing tone made the pack quiver and cuddle together even more.

"But many students reported they clearly heard a feminine voice lamenting through the door, even though it has been locked since this morning. Even we confirmed it when we went there to see if it was serious or not."

"All the girls of the school were here today, so it is not one of them. What's this, a prank?" Misaki's clenched fists and demonic aura made all the boy shiver so much their teeth were gritting.

"No, we swear it's not!" Misaki sighed. This was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

Long ago, in Seika high, there was a boy who dated a girl from another school. She would always sneak out inside the buildings, even thought it was an all-boys school at the time. One day, she had wanted to surprise her boyfriend by coming even thought he wasn't expecting her. So she discovered she wasn't the only one sneaking in to wait for him. When she came out and asked for explanations, her boyfriend answered her that as she had refused to go further with him, he had had to find himself somebody to do it in her stead. He added that he still loved her and that if she was ready to take the step now, he'd gladly dump the other. From despair and rage to have been cheated on by him, she went to the men's bathrooms and commited suicide by hanging herself to a water pipe. On the next day, her unfaithful boyfriend discovered her, and it is said that he never approached any woman from then on.

* * *

"So, what is this crap? Don't tell me you still believe in fairy tales?" The student council members stared in awe at their president. Her definition for fairytales was pretty uncommon. A timid voice stammered:

"That is why we would like you, a gggu-girl -the boy hesitated a while on this word, not very sure of the accuracy of his terms-, to go. The ghost has nothing against other females, so she won't harm you. But it is said that she attacks every male that enters her territorry!"

"And what if you all go instead, with a few kicks in your lazy butts? That way you will make it to the bathrooms faster!" The guys trembled like candles in the wind, but did not make any attempts to move. The punishment inflicted by a living being was always less painful than the one of an undead creature. The president's demonic aura rose higher and higher as she glared evily at them, but all of a sudden they could breathe again and Misaki was sighing heavily, growling.

"What a bunch of good-for-nothings you are" The others felt an enormous weight being taken off their shoulders. She was going to take care of it, and altrough they usually weren't the laziests nor the cowardiests of the pack, this time they really prefered this solution. Let a demon solve the problems of the demons and, as a human, do not interfere.

Stomping heavily, the president headed towards the exit of the room one more time, Usui Takumi following her goofily. The other boys stared at him in amazement as he rushed to avoid the door Misaki slammed back in place.

Seika high's ray of hope had the courage to face both the ghost -even thought he was a guy-, and the demon president in a bad mood!

* * *

The trip was definitely worth it, Usui thought as he shamelessy stalked his favorite president.

Said president first attempted to stay normal, but her back was as straight as a pole, her shoulders tensed up. She then tried to shake her arms and shrug her shoulders to make it go away, but it was coming back the second she was focusing on something else. The pres forced herself to proudly keep her head high, but she started glancing around nervously as soon as they reached the right floor, the keys she had once again borrowed tinkling madly in her trembling hands. Her demon aura rose up as a result of her growing uneasiness, clearing the entire hallway from any living being except them two. She tried moving her fingers to relax her overly tensed hands. Judging by her surprised glance, she didn't even recall when she had started to clench them into fists. As the two of them got closer to their destination, the demon president's agressive attitude peeled off to reveal fear.

At minus twenty meters of the supposed ghost, Misaki couldn't keep her arms stuck to her body anymore, and crossed them against her chest in a defensive pose.

At minus 15 meters of the scene, her knuckles were white from gripping her own uniform.

At minus 10 meters, Usui couldn't take it anymore and wrapped an arm around her. She jolted just like she had been hit by lightning, and only his good reflexes allowed him to avoid her punches.

At minus 5 meters, she was blushing, mad at her own attitude, but far from willing to part from him.

At minus 3 meters, he was desperately searching for a way to make her stay in his arms longer.

At minus 0,01 meters, Usui decided he probably hadn't ever loathed the short lenght of the corridors that much in his entire life. He now fully understood what was the real purpose of building all those endless hallways.

In front of the bathrooms, they both cursed. One because he really didn't want to let go. Another because she didn't really want to go.

They looked at each other, waiting for the other to pull away first.

Heck, it seemed it could take a while.

* * *

Following the two heroes was the entire student council, but the second wave of stalkers had progressively slowed down as they were approaching, fearing the president at least as much as the ghost. They had learned the hard way that, when the demon started to make a noise close to the rattlesnake's, it was the same as with the animal: you'd better keep your distances. And right now a tinkle could be heard very clearly. When they eventually reached the corner leading to the right hallway, the noise was gone, and they only dared to glance in the direction of the door.

It was open, and the golden combination, as Yukimura called them, was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Their dilemna had been solved easily in the end: Holding hands didn't seem too degradating in Misaki's mind, and the alien was smiling slightly, satisifed, because he thought she would have shaken him off. A good thing that nobody was around.

Usui spared the pres the humiliation of not being able to open a door because of her shaky hands by stealing her keys and inserting them into the lock. She still mumbled something that sounded like "I could have done it myself", but was too focused on the ghost's nest to really sound convincing. Misaki almost broke the doorknob, but still managed to somehow unlock the door. She then kicked it open.

It smashed whatever was standing between it and the wall. The thing shrieked.

Misaki managed to repress her cry of terror, but her hand crushed Usui's. Glancing around in panick, she eventually noticed his silent plea and released the pressure a little.

"Sorry."

"President?" A muffled voice, barely recognizable.

"WHAT?" She startled.

"Yukimura?" Usui asked.

"Yes?" Hesitantly pushing the door he had been slammed with, the small boy appeared, his face bruised and bleeding. Misaki snapped out of her frozen state to hurry to him, the alien following her.

"Damn, what the hell happened to you, Yukimura?" she paused, glancing back "Usui, I need both my hands right now." The concerned shot her quite a dejected glance but accepted to let go of her.

"I was trying to listen to what was outside because I thought I heard some sounds, then I don't know what happened." Whined the vice-president. He wobbled, and the president helped him staying on his feet.

"Pres, I think you knocked him along with the door you kicked."

"Idiot Usui, tell me something I don't know. Yukimura, can you still hear me?" He was gazing vaguely at his own reflection on the mirror on top of the sinks, seeming totally out of it.

"The capital of Mongolia is Oulan-bator." Misaki's shook pretty hard the poor vice-president, her voice rising higher and higher to a yell:

"One: I knew it. Two: Something useful, for once? Yukimura, we have to get you treated. Let's find out if the nurse is still there, I think it's the day of the inventory for the infirmary too so she should be sorting the supplies." The president pulled her victim out of the bathrooms, putting his arm around her shoulders to make sure he wouldn't fall down.

"But it is useful. How do you want to book a flight for a determined country if you don't know the name of the capital where you will probably be landing?" The perverted alien followed along, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Just shut the hell up, that would be of a great help." She groaned while Usui was approaching Yukimura from behind, chirping.

"Our pres is so cold, don't you think? Just because she is angry at herself both for being so afraid of nothing and for her own mistakes, she allows herself to lash out at others to release her stress. It seems she only became president so that she can have underlings to vent on." He glanced at Yukimura to see his reaction, but the vice-president had already passed out. Misaki tried to get him on her back, however an alien stopped her right on her tracks. She started protesting, before being cut off:

"I know you are feeling guilty, but either you let me carry him, or I'll carry the both of you at the same time. The choice is yours to make." He was smirking but his eyes were firm.

"Okay, I get it already. He's all yours." She blushed, looking away. Her muscles were aching now that the tension was going down. When did she ever contract them so much, she didn't know at all.

"I would have rather prefered carrying you had I been given the choice, that's for sure, pres."

Misaki, blushing madly, litterally jumped on the several student council members, that had mysteriously reappeared as soon as the problem had seemed to be solved, and began the scolding of their lives. Gaping at the explanation they grasped between her threats, they turned to Usui to stare at the vice-president. Suddenly remembering she also had an injured student to take care of, Misaki hastily finished her ranting by swearing the guys were far from being over with her punishment before pulling Usui in the direction of the infirmary.

"Pres, you're not thinking of doing _something_ while Yukimura is asleep, do you?" His usual teasing smirk was all she needed to burst out for good. Too much was too much.


	18. Unchained melody

**Warning: to be read as happening during chapter 52. Meaning after Usui has sent Misaki home, followed by Cedric -the ninja spy- for the first time. **

Usui stayed still just a second, waiting for Misaki to shut the door. A slight smile crept to his lips when he heard the clicking sound of the lock being put on. Well, better safe than sorry when you see what kind of people can start following you around, he thought as he slowly dragged his feet towards his apparment. A glance to the stalker, still behind, confirmed he was indeed sticking to Usui. The alien couldn't repress a relieved sigh. It would have been so much worse if he had been given the order to watch over Misaki.

Reluctantly leaving behind all the things that could have happened if only somebody hadn't been here, the blond young man watched carefully the spy's movements as they were going farther and farther from the Ayuzawa household. He wasn't paying attention to anything else than his target.

All good. Now onto the funny stuff.

* * *

Usui opened the door to his appartment, and at last remembered the name of the song that had been playing non-stop in his head. He knew it by heart, having learned how to play the violin part. A smirk suddenly appeared on his face. It was definitely fitting.

He was so going to do this right here and now. This was payback for the fact that he had had to stop Misaki right before hearing something he had awaited so eagerly for so long. He couldn't believe how low he had fallen, but he was not in his normal state. A strange mix of eagerness, satisfaction, joy and anger had replaced the usual calm that inhabited his heart.

Usui searched in his appartment for a certain black case, and eventually leaned it on the couch. His hands caressed slowly the familiar frame and undid the locks on the side before opening it. The fiddler picked up his instrument, tuning it carefully. He spent a good amount of time making sure it was ready. It was out of the question to make a mistake in the middle of a tune because he hadn't properly prepared beforehand.

The song was repeating over and over, begging him to let it escape from his head, eagerly awaiting to be played on the violin for real. Usui's foot began beating the rythm as it started one more time. All of a sudden, his part came and the violin answered. The feet continued tapping as the fiddler was listening to the singing in his head.

* * *

A man was sitting, bored, on a comfortable armchair facing a first-class listening device. The luxurious headphones allowed him to listen to everything that happened at Usui Takumi's appartment, but not to understand what the hell was going on. The guy at the other end was certainly using a fiddle if he wasn't mistaken, but was just playing for a few seconds before stopping. He was still beating the rythm, though. Maybe waiting? Then the violin's tune appeared out of nowhere, filling the ears of the spy.

How was he supposed to write this in his report?

* * *

The fiddler played faster and faster, letting his body drag the music out of his instrument. He was not thinking of the score, nor of the position of his fingers: he had played this so many times years before he knew how to do it without thinking. Usui didn't even have the time to think about what he was doing: he did it, not remembering what came before nor what came after. He was the tune. And he had to play even faster. Higher pitched. Go further, further and further until his body broke down...

But it didn't happen. It came along, following his orders, and continued to play the melody in his head. Higher and higher and higher he got, devilishly continuing over and over without a break. He didn't need one, because there weren't any breaks in the music either.

When the song ended, he immediatly began a new tune. An energetic melody took over, seeming to drag on everything around him in an erratic dance.

He went on, and on, and on, barely noticing the regular change of the numbers on the digital clock, that were going up to fifty-nine before returning to zero, and up again.

* * *

Usui dragged down the melody with him, forcing it to end in a blast. Silence fell heavily around him, seeming to creep from the dark corners of the room. He was smirking, quite satisfied with himself.

If there had ever been people listening to him, he was sure that if they hadn't become deaf by now they were at least on their way.

* * *

The man with the headphones sighed in relief when the silence fell at the other end of the line. He could have lowered the volume, but he wouldn't have been able to reccord the other sounds this Usui Takumi guy would be making. The orders were clear: even if the target listened to Lady Gaga at full blast, do not change the volume, or else the guy would be able to hide other interesting noises. But, boy, now he had an idea of how noisy a fiddle could be.

Taking the reccording, he started a research in a music database to identify the tunes the Usui guy had been playing.

The answer came for the first song, and his eyes shot open.

"The devil went down to Georgia", that was it. He started reading the lyrics as the video he found on the internet played. He wasn't even sure which fiddle was better, the one of the band or the one of the boy he was spying on.

The devil had went down on earth to get a new soul. His target had been a violin player, and a deal was made: they were each to bet something on a fiddle contest. The devil would give a violin made of gold, the musician his soul. The former had lost, and had had to hand over the golden fiddle while the winner had said that he would be ready anytime for another try.

This guy was mocking them for sure.

* * *

Usui carefully put the instrument back into it's case. He had to treat it with respect, because he would most probably have to use it's voice again in the upcoming weeks.

By now, his first message should have reached the ears of the higher-ups and made a pretty funny commotion.

* * *

A fiddle played. Groogily opening an eye in the darkness of the room, Misaki frowned upon realizing it wasn't normal. She threw away her bedsheets and sat, blinking. She remembered one time when Usui was in a suit, playing an elaborate tune while she was serving their examinator for the butler audition. As the minutes were passing by he was getting paler, but the tune always stayed at the same perfect level -at least to her ears-. She almost had had the impression that this perfect melody was mocking the imperfect human falling apart as he was playing it.

Misaki shook her head, trying to focus on the present. Past, by definition, was the in past, so there was no use mourning over it. Four blood red digits were standing somewhere near her desk, and she at last remembered Suzuna had won an alarm clock not long ago. As she was tired of hearing Misaki's loud (and indeed off-key, but it was quite efficient nonetheless) alarm ring, she had forced her older sister to accept this new one. So last night Misaki had set up the hour, that at least she remembered.

"Good morning! It's 6 AM and the sun has yet to rise, at least at the station." The black-haired girl startled, at last getting what had happened. Stumbling in the direction of the digits, she slammed the button on top of the alarm clock, and the voice stopped it's blabbering on how the traffic jams had almost made it late.

Five minutes later, while she was dressing up, the radio went on again.

Now she knew why that thing made her think of Usui: they were both extremely persistant.

**Author's note: "The devil went down to Georgia" is sung and played by The charlie Daniel's band. "Unchained melody" is sung by the righteous brothers.**

**Please ignore the few weird things, like the fact that Usui having learned how to play this song is highly unlikely since he was most probably taught classical violin, and that there is no real point in learning the fiddle part anyway since you would need some more people to actually get a full song. And I'll also try to ignore the fact that he's clearly a freaking alien if he can just pick up a fiddle like nothing's wrong after stopping for months.  
**


	19. Policy of truth

**Warning: To be read as happening somewhere after chapter 39 (you will understand why soon)...**

Some say that tidying everything that confuses you into a list helps when you want to clear up your clouded mind.

That was probably why Misaki was scratching her head, staring at the blank page before her at nearly three in the morning. She had fallen asleep in the middle of her homework, and had dreamed of that time, in this empty classroom, when Hinata had been able to get her feelings even clearer than hers. His eyes were still haunting her, those eyes that seemed to be yelling "why not me? Am I not good enough?"

So here she was, trying to find an explanation, anything good enough to ease her guilty conscience. The pen in her hand started writing almost on it's own, and a faint scratching sound was heard in the silence of the room.

_Usui_

That name had popped up on it's own, defying her from it's spot right in the middle of the circle drawn by her desk lamp. The black-haired girl blushed and glared at the ink as it was drying before sighing deeply. Fine. A list, why not, maybe that way things would appear clear to her exhausted mind. As soon as she started thinking about it, dozens of words rushed into her head, fighting to get laid on paper first, and she started scribbling madly.

_Alien  
Pervert  
Stalker  
Always perfect  
Too perfect  
Annoying  
Pervert  
Eats at school  
Too good timing  
Does what he wants  
Insistant  
Always in the way  
Doesn't care about authority  
Too flawless  
Pokes into other people's buisness  
Sweetalker  
Won't talk about himself  
Has no sense of shame  
Stubborn  
Always there_

Blushing harder and harder as the list was getting longer, Misaki suddenly threw the first paper away, fetching another.

_Hinata_

Here was the second name. However, her mind remained completely empty. Searching desperately, she found out there was one thing that seemed fitting:

_He is not Usui._

Cheeks bright red, she hastily scribbled down her answer before turning to the most complicated file she had at hand. Surely she needed at least that to get somebody out of her head.

**Author's note: "Policy of truth" is sung by Depeche mode.**


	20. Dream on

"Hello, am I at the doctor's place?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I'm glad it is. You see.."

"There must be some kind of mistake here..."

"I am having quite severe withdrawal symptoms. It hasn't been that long since I've had my last fix, but from the moment I had my first it was already over for me. I've become totally addicted. It's hopeless, and I'm not even willing to give this very thing up even for the rest of the whole universe. It's like nothing else matters. So I'm here talking on the phone with you, I know I'm a hopeless idiot and I couldn't care less as long as I have my fix as soon as possible. Just thinking about it males my heart race, my head spin as if I'm going crazy, which is probably at least part true given how I am a complete addict. Tell me, what could I possibly do?"

"... You perverted alien. See you at your place in an hour."

"I love you too. Why so long? Half an hour."

"Thinking about it, two hours would be better since I have quite a lot of things going on now..."

"Okay, let's say an hour then..."

"Idiot. See you soon."

"I'm only hanging up because I know it'll enable you to get here faster."

"...

Idiot."

The sound of her cell phone closing resonated at the other side of the line.

The world lost it's balance as it spun back into a whirlpool of blur images, muffled sounds and fleeting sensations.

* * *

Usui startled, rising from the couch. He blinked repeatedly, pushing back the blanket covering him and rubbing his eyes. His hand went up to ruffle his hair as he slowly took a look around. A sigh escaped from his lips, and he reached for his cell phone. Opening it, he noticed that a new message had been waiting for him. A grin slowly crept to his face as he read it.

"Usui, are you free tomorrow after work?"

Sometimes reality was even better than dreams.

**Author's note: There are two songs named "Dream on", sung by Depeche Mode and Aerosmith. **


End file.
